Man of Steel
by LJ58
Summary: In an AU world, Kal-El is never raised by the Kents. Found by the U.S. military, and later escaping after he learns his true abilities and heritage, he must make his way in an increasingly dangerous and hostile world. He soon finds he isn't alone, but is that really a good thing?
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**I**

"Don't let him reach the hatch," General Flagg shouted as explosions seemed to rock the once sturdy underground bunker. "Get those blast doors down! Get them down! Who the devil even raised them?"

"Sir, Delta squad just fell, and Baker is being torn apart," a soldier reported as someone shouted frantically in his ear to be heard over the communications headset he wore.

The burly general swore. "Just give him a little freedom," the general growled. "What could it hurt?" He swore fluently, then grabbed the radio, his scowl as dark as his mood.

"Report, Baker," he snarled. "Baker? Damn it, someone talk to me!"

"Sir," an obviously injured man rasped over the line after a moment. "He…. He can't be stopped. We…. We've hit him with everything! _Everything_! He just keeps going. He was…. He was laughing at us, sir! _Laughing_!"

Richard Flagg swore. Not good, he knew. Not good at all.

"General," someone shouted. "He's tearing through the blast doors! He's…gone," the man with the radio headset frowned as he turned to look at him with a stunned expression.

"What do you mean gone? What happened out there? Baker? Baker? Are you still there?"

"He's gone, sir," the man on the other end finally croaked, sounding as if he were barely conscious. "He….. He went through the doors….. Like they were tissue. Then he just looked up, and….and he was…..gone."

General Flagg resisted the urge to fling his radio to the ground, and glared at his men. "I'll be in command," he said to those around him, not really caring what they thought at that point.

He was against this madness from the start.

'_Don't borrow trouble_,' he had told the new scientists. Bleeding hearts, more like it. They took one look at the specimen, and started babbling about humane treatment.

First they reduced amount of the crystalline particulates that kept him weakened, and manageable. Then they started feeding him more than regularly, as if they somehow starved him. Then they even started demanding he be allowed space for exercise, and even privacy. _Privacy_! None of them seemed to understand what they were dealing with here. Not one of them.

All they saw was a young man, apparently human, held immobile by thick, reinforced chains that even weakened as he was at the time, barely kept him restrained. That had been when the bleeding hearts showed up with new agendas. New guidelines.

'_Treat him as a human, and he will react humanely_,' they had parroted their usual liberal bull.

Well, that was really smart.

To be honest, the subject had been fairly docile for all of three days after his relative freedom was granted. Until one of the scientists had the bright idea of allowing the subject to interact with certain artifacts in their care. Curiosity aside, they were certain the humane treatment, and more lenient strictures would allow them to breach the specimen's consistently stoic, and often hostile demeanor.

Well, he had three hundred men who could tell them how well that had worked.

"Get me Lane," he barked as he walked into the main command center of the underground facility built sixteen years ago for a single purpose. A purpose they in which they had spectacularly failed today. "And get those damn eggheads debriefed, and out of my facility. Now!"

He sat down, waiting as the encrypted landlines were doubly encrypted, and then rechecked again before being doubly encrypted yet again before he dared use them. It was that kind of world.

"General Lane," a gruff man drawled on the other end of the line he put on speaker just because he didn't feel like holding a phone just then. He was also of the feeling he might smash the damn thing in his current mood.

It had been known to happen.

"Sam. It's Rick. We have a situation."

The line was silent for a moment, then he heard a long exhalation.

"Rick, in the nine years since you took command _there_, you have not called me to do more than discuss the lousy chow, or the morons we send you to help play doctor with your guest. Don't tell me…..?"

"Whoever set up the new procedures for your eggheads was a moron."

"That would be Dr. Luthor's people. They felt a new approach might yield….." Sam Lane paused as he heard the sharp intake of breath. "Hit a snag?"

"Snag? You could call it that, Sam. X-1 just broke out. He tore threw my best like they were untrained recruits, and literally took off. As of now, X-1 is MIA."

If the soldier had cursed himself, it was nothing like the grizzled Marine general's reaction on the other end just then. His reaction made Rick sound like a choirboy.

"Sam, listen. He went through over three hundred of my best like they were wet-behind-the-ears schoolboys. We need medical support, and relief ASAP. And I want these damn eggheads debriefed, and sent to _Greenland_! Maybe Antarctica! They're all idiots," he growled.

"Rick, I'll be in touch. Meanwhile, hang on. I'm sending out a full relief force now."

"Sam. Damn it, Sam, we couldn't even slow him down. Nothing stopped him," he told his longtime friend. "Nothing."

"That is not good," Sam admitted. "What about the crystals?"

"To be honest, of late they seemed to have been loosing their efficacy even before we reduced the amounts around him. Maybe he's built up an immunity over time. I don't know. But right now, we're looking at a real cluster….."

"I get it. I'll be in touch. Just hold the fort," Sam told him. "I have to call the old man."

"Understood. Flagg out."

"It's a phone, Rick. Just say goodbye."

Rick scowled, and pressed the disconnect switch. Hard.

"I know it's a damn phone, you damn jarhead," he growled at the device, then rose to his feet, looked around the stunned, pale faces of his men standing around him in command, and nodded. "Okay. Everyone grab whatever medical supplies we have, and follow me. And get someone down to level nine. We have fires to contain, and people to treat. Move, you pantywaists. This isn't over yet," he barked.

**MoS**

He hung in the air thousands of feet over the planet below. Even he was stunned when he jumped from the wall of the dam concealing his underground prison, and found himself rising into the air so far, and so fast that he knew that he must have just seemed to vanish to those he had left behind.

He looked down, stunned as he realized his senses were now suddenly so sharp, so sensitive, that he was hearing voices and sounds from miles away. Seeing things at impossible distances if he focused just so.

He had been feeling restless for years, but especially of late. That feeling had only intensified when those new scientists had finally presented him with genuine evidence of why the military that had held him captive for so long apparently feared him.

He wasn't human.

He had wondered what he was for years, but no one told him a thing. No one ever truly said anything to him. Yet the moment he had no more than brushed the small, shimmering rainbow crystal still clutched in his left hand he had heard a shrill burst of sound, and what he now knew was a holographic recording exploded in his mind, feeding him a data-stream with the entire history, science, and culture of a long dead planet right into his head. Data that began with a startling declaration.

"_My son_," the silver-haired man who 'appeared' before him had stated somberly. "_I am Jor-El. I am your father."_

He looked down at the crystal he still held, and focused his attention on it rather than the paranoid people on the planet below. The planet where his father had sent him, thinking he would have a chance to survive the destruction of his homeworld. To thrive. To build his own life.

Of course, he had not known any of that when he was found wandering not far from where a small spacecraft of unknown origin was discovered by the military over nineteen years ago. He had only known that he was not well received anywhere he had gone since they found him. He supposed he would have been only been about three years of age at the time he crawled out of the spacecraft he only dimly remembered in spite of a brain that could and did soak up knowledge like a sponge.

What had gotten him dragged out of a rather ordinary government lab, and all but buried underground was fear. Fear that as he grew older, he grew still ever stronger, and more unassailable. At just five, he had already been lifting half a ton of dead weight. Bending and breaking their needles, and even hearing their intentions for him through solid walls. He would have fled then, but he had still been just a child, lost and frightened. Unsure of what he could do, and even if he should do it.

Then, of course, came the discovery of the green crystals that sickened him.

Fear and paranoia at their height during that time he was growing up, he was virtually buried in the underground bunker with the strange, glowing rocks they found could make him sick. For sixteen years he had been kept in a cage. More and more chains added as they realized that even with the rocks necessary to weaken him without actually killing him that he was still growing stronger, and in their minds, more dangerous.

He had the feeling that some of them would have simply killed him if they could have actually managed it.

Then the old man with kind eyes came, and started making different demands. Chains were actually removed. Some of the crystalline rocks he now suspected were actually pieces of his own lost world were removed, and he began to grow even stronger. Still, some of those rocks had already been replaced with very good, but ineffectual duplicates. He did not know why. He did not care. That fact only added to his recovering strength. A fact he kept to himself, as he had learned to stay silent over the years since he had no answers to their often ridiculous questions anyway. Meanwhile, the old man, Dr. Emil Hamilton, let him read. Let him watch their television. He was genuinely friendly. He treated him as a real human.

Then the old man led him into a special lab, and for the first time since he was a child, he was presented with the weird, egg-shaped craft that had apparently brought him to this planet. In it, he found a simple blue blanket he had lifted and ran his hand over as he had flashes of memory that involved a willowy woman with dark hair, and smiling, if sad eyes.

Then the old man handed him the strangely glowing crystal he produced from a heavy, lead box, and then everything had suddenly made sense.

Even as the soldier in charge of his security had started demanding to know what was happening as he absorbed that holographic farewell from his parents. From Jor-El and Lara. The soldier started barking orders to bring the chains back. And more rocks.

Kal-El, last son of Krypton, had had enough of that kind of hospitality.

He chose to die fighting if necessary, and shocked even himself when he grabbed for the nearest guard's gun, thinking only to try to get away, and found the carbon steel folding like soft putty in his hands. He hit a man trying to grab at him so hard he flew twenty feet across the large chamber where his ship, and other alien artifacts were housed by the government, and watched him hit with enough force to shatter bone.

Even he cringed at the sound of his impact.

He turned to the old man, eyes round in shock, and the kindly old man had said one word.

"Go."

And so he had run.

As he did, he realized he was faster and stronger than the men around him. He found that his preternaturally tough skin was tougher than even he realized as not only bullets bounced off him, even their explosive rounds couldn't pierce his skin. He began to laugh. Struck by the grim knowledge that only his own despair and ignorance had truly held him here all this time, he now reveled in the idea he could finally be free, and no one could stop him.

He tore through those last barriers before him with ridiculous ease, and then leapt up into the night sky with such speed and ease, it was as if he had been doing it all his life.

He looked down on the world again and knew, positively knew, that everything had changed.

Everything.

But what did he do now?

It was certain the military would still be hunting him. They would never stop. He didn't need the wisdom of an entire doomed planet to tell him that much.

He sighed, and looked down at the crystal again, ignoring the planet over which he hung well out of reach of most of their aircraft. The crystal, he realized was starting to hum again. This time the louder it hummed, the more he realized he had a sense of…..direction.

Turning north, he followed the guiding pull, and trusted that his father must have planned something for him even as he had built his star-craft. One that he knew could not remain in the humans' hands. Sentiment aside, he now realized Kryptonian technology would be much too powerful for their scientists to handle if they finally pierced its secrets. They could conceivably end up killing their own world if they tried to tap a science they had no true understanding of by reverse-engineering his vessel.

Just then, however, he had to wait. First, he had to find his own way.

Afterward, however, he would be back. After he found his own way on this obviously hostile, alien world that remained his only sanctuary in a cosmos he now knew could be a grim, and dangerous place for a man alone.

He was, he now knew, completely alone.

_Continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**2**

Rick Flagg stared down at the smoldering remains of the convoy, and swore.

The decision to abandon his command wasn't his own, and he had argued against the move. Especially in the manner that had been planned without his input. Still, General Flagg was a soldier, and even he obeyed orders.

They dismantled the base, and began to move men and materials to other locations the moment the brass decided it was time to scrap the secret post. The last convoy was to carry out the more critical artifacts they felt too dangerous to let go, intending to deliver them to a special holding facility near Metropolis. The Cadmus Labs, a top-secret covert offshoot of the more public Luthor-Corp, was doing a lot of cutting edge research for the government, and the Pentagon had decided to turn everything over to them.

Instead, it was now all gone. Every artifact. Every scrap of proof that Mankind was definitely not alone in the cosmos. Decades of evidence, and effort. Lost in one single instant.

As his helicopter banked to fly over the scene below, his sergeant looked down, and whistled. "Think it was our boy, sir?"

"Who the hell else could it have been, Sgt. Parkes," he demanded, thinking only of that single semi-truck loaded with alien artifacts. Artifacts that included X-1's own spacecraft made of an alloy so dense they couldn't even break off a piece for study in all this time. In all this time, not one laser, hammer, or tool had been able to so much as dent the damn thing.

"Put us down," he finally barked at the pilot when he saw the survivors' huddled around an overturned jeep they were using as shelter from the winds that were blowing strong and cold that evening.

Two months.

Two months without a single sighting, and on the very night they risked finally moving the artifacts, the creature apparently swooped down, smashed up his convoy, and flew off with the entire trailer packed with goodies without slowing down to even show his face.

Not that it mattered. They knew who it had been.

What it had been.

As he had feared, X-1 was definitely proving himself a viable threat. They should have killed him years ago when they had the chance. Before he had grown up, and become too powerful. He had long felt that way. He was all the more convinced now. Too bad no one else had shared his foresight at the time.

Not far away, the lights of Metropolis lit the horizon. Hopefully, none of that nosy press had gotten wind of this fiasco, or so he hoped as his bird touched down, and hopped out to check on the men that looked his way.

"Injuries?"

"None, sir," a young lieutenant stepped forward to report with a ragged salute. The man was obviously chilled from the night air, and looking more than a little chagrinned. "The….guy handled us with kid's gloves this go-round. We barely had time to blink, and we were all sitting on the side of the road watching him fly off with our cargo."

"Why all the destruction, then," he demanded, noting the devastated equipment.

"I'm guessing he didn't want us calling, or going for help until he had a head start, sir," the younger officer told him honestly.

"Well, it obviously worked," Rick snapped irritably. "How long ago did he strike? That soldier who reported the incident never gave us a timeline when he finally reached a phone to call in aid."

"Close to 1600, sir," the man told him somberly.

"Damn. Seven hours. He could be anywhere."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant nodded needlessly.

"All right. We've got relief trucks coming up now. Get yourselves squared away, and… Lt. Hardcastle?"

"Sir?"

"This did not happen. Understand?"

"Perfectly, sir," the man saluted a little more formally, and turned to his men even as more military trucks rolled toward them, carrying men and supplies to aid their own. Still, Rick was glad they didn't end up with casualties this time. Not even one injury. Unless one counted the obviously chilled men likely to end up with colds from the look of some of them.

He was about to head back to his bird when he spotted a van behind the convoy. Rick Flagg swore softly when he saw them. It was obviously a media van. In the passenger seat he could just make out a brunette he knew all too well.

"Perfect," he spat. "Just….perfect."

**MoS**

"Dr. Luthor….."

"Please, Lois. Call me Lex."

The voluptuously curved brunette smiled sardonically at the bald man in the tailored, dark gray suit, tapping a short nail against her mini-recorder. "And you may call me _Ms. Lane_," she drawled with a fierce glitter in her dark eyes.

The bald man nodded nonchalantly, and smiled at her. "As you wish. _Lois_." "Save the act, baldy," she drawled. "This time I've got you dead-to-rights. So how about telling me why Luthor-Corp decided to try to buy out Star Labs when we both know Hamilton's little research group wasn't even in your league?"

"Now, Lois," the tall, lanky man smiled, his eyes suddenly cold and hard. "I wouldn't want to bore you with talk about economics, and certain…..practicalities of…"

"So, the strong-arm attempt to force a buyout wasn't personal? And you didn't try to have Emil Hamilton silenced because he knew so much about your clandestine dealings with Cadmus, _and_ the Pentagon?"

"With who," Lex drawled smoothly, but Lois wasn't buying it. He had been a snake from the day she had first met Lex Luthor, alleged philanthropist, and scientific genius who had turned his family's minor holding into a multi-national, multi-billion dollar concern in just five short years once he came to power. Some said that prosperity came with a lot of covert, government backing. Not to mention certain coincidental deaths. Starting with his own family members who less than coincidentally left him sole heir to the empire.

Shortly after Luthor-Corp raised its first tower, many of Luthor's rivals, competitors, or outright enemies began to just disappear. Almost conveniently so.

"Cute don't cut it with me, buddy. We both know you're part of the government think-tank researching genetic manipulation, and cutting-edge…"

"Really, Lois," he drawled. "I would think a reporter of your caliber would have learned to check her facts by now. Not resort to science fiction, and flights of fantasy," he smiled. "Now, while I scheduled this little tête-à-tête for the sake of your father, who is a good friend," he smiled unctuously.

"Let's leave dear old dad out of this. Shall we? We both know he still thinks I betrayed the Corps. But I don't care. I care about….."

"This interview is over, Lois," he said as an intercom chirped. "Sorry. Time is money, and all that. Mercy," he called to the lean, wiry brunette who was chauffeur, aide, and much more to the very powerful businessman.

"This isn't over, Dr. Luthor," she growled as Mercy Graves appeared, and all but dragged her out of his office.

Lex sighed, and shook his head. Magnificent woman. Too bad General Lane was right. She was worse than a dog with a bone, and simply didn't know how to let go.

"Sweep the office, Mercy," he told her when the woman returned. "I wouldn't put it past that woman to have planted a few bugs right under my nose while she was here. Then find out who blabbed about Cadmus, and especially the botched hit on Emil.. I would like to _talk_ to them. Personally," he said so grimly that Mercy understood completely.

**MoS**

He looked down on the world, now clad only in a black bodysuit, a silver sigil on his chest that served as his memorial to his father, and his lost world. He had gained much over the past three years. He had immersed himself in the study of his own world's science, and culture. In addition, he had used the planet's own wireless internet services to study humanity as a whole even as he studied the other genuine alien artifacts found along with his ship on that military transport he had intercepted years ago.

One of them, ironically, had vanished not long after he had opened the lead box holding it.

The small, green ring had risen of its own accord even while he had studied it, shone an apparently harmless green light over him, and then vanished as if it had simply left this physical dimension. He remembered the insignia, however, and based on his father's archives now knew it was tied to a group of ancient immortals from a planet his ancestors had called Oa.

He dismissed them, and the ring, deciding they had nothing to do with him.

Other artifacts indicated that the planet had been, and was still being visited by other species. Some obviously not well received judging by the impacts, and scoring on alien wreckage, armor, or even the one desiccated body he found in a cyro-tube. The red-skinned creature wore the same sigil on his garment as the ring that had vanished, and not knowing what else to do, he had buried the fellow alien deep in the ice near his arctic fortress, as he considered it.

After he had finished his own personal studies and preparations, now confident in the use of his own seemingly miraculous abilities, he had turned back to the problem of his own immediate future.

He couldn't too well just sit in the north, hidden by ice and snow, and let the world spin by him. It wasn't in him to ignore that greater world that was now so close with his speed and power. He simply would not trade one cell for another, which he felt such enforced solitude would be in the end. Of course, he still had to lay low, because he knew all he had to do was show himself, and the nation's military would be all over him. Perhaps the entire world's militaries, too, rather than just that one nation that seemed overly paranoid to him.

At the moment, he hovered over the very area near where he had found the convoy that afternoon a few years ago, having overheard that the men were headed to another secret lab of some kind. He had wondered if they might be holding other aliens, but a sweep of the area with his special x-ray vision, one might call it, had shown nothing but pretentious men playing with sciences they had yet to even master. He wondered if they had not stolen that technology from other captives, too.

He did not find any other sentients. No other captives. None that weren't of their own species, at least. They seemed to view certain members of their own species with the same disdain accorded him. He had to wonder why. Were they not all the same genus?

Then his ears heard the squeal of tires, and he looked to see a small sedan fleeing two large, black SUVs obviously trying to run the former into the bay. The road was a narrow, winding path along the side of mountain outside the large city beyond, and from the look of it, the larger vehicles had already seriously damaged the smaller car.

He focused on the lead vehicle, and heard the woman inside cursing someone named Lex fluently just before one SUV pulled forward, cutting her off, letting the second ram her off the highway, and into the air.

For all of a half second before her damaged car began to fall.

The woman, to her credit, didn't scream.

She cursed all the more. Then actually tried to shove her badly warped door open as if intending to jump free as the car plunged toward the dark water below. She did not succeed.

The SUVs slowed, and stopped as the car plummeted, and he saw four men in dark suits climb out, holding weapons.

Four armed men for a single female?

Below, the car hit the water, and sank fast, the woman kicking and pushing against the passenger door now. Just as badly damaged, even that door that wouldn't open. The men watching laughed, then one pulled out a radio. "Tell Dr. Luthor the leak was plugged. That's right, the reporter is history. Tomorrow, the big story will be her _obituary_."

Dr. Luthor.

The name was not unfamiliar to him after years in his 'care.'.

Kal-El made an impulsive decision at that moment, and arched down, hitting the water without feeling the impact despite his speed. He quickly spotted the car still sinking as the woman now tried to kick her way through a window as she gulped precious air from the rapidly filling car's confined space.

He had to smile. Most humans would have likely been panicking at this stage. This woman was a fighter. He admired that.

He flew more than he swam, and reached the car before it could continue to the bottom still thirty feet below. His fingers sank into the steel frame, easily holding it in place as he tore open the warped door panel as the woman stared incredulously at him for scarcely a second, and then reached fearlessly for him. He released the car even as he pulled her to his chest, and then rose to the surface so fast she didn't have time to blink as he kept going until they were high over the bay, and she was looking down.

"Holy cow, mister! You're a lifesaver," she blurted as she clung to him, staring down at the water below. "But how did you….? How are we….? Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Is it not enough that you are safe," he asked her with a smile born of genuine amusement as she looked directly at him, losing herself in his wide, blue eyes for a moment.

"Uh, yeah. But….no. _No!_ You are news, mister. Anyone that can do what you just did…. Are doing," she said, looking down as she clung to him. "What are you? One of Cadmus' escaped projects? Did Lex cook you up in his lab?"

"No one cooked me up, woman," he told her with a faint smile, and glanced down to where the two SUVs were driving away. Not one of the men in the vehicles had even considered looking up. "I am….."

"One of those metas I've been hearing about. Right? You suddenly developed powers, and you're out doing good deeds. Like that Flash character out in Central City. Nice costume, by the way. But it's a bit bleak for a wannabe hero, don't you think?"

"Do you ever pause for air," he asked quietly as he hovered high over the bay, simply staring at the woman who seemed remarkably composed for one who had just been spared certain death seconds ago.

The woman blinked, mouth open, ready to continue even as he spoke.

She suddenly grinned. "Sorry. Lois Lane. Daily Planet."

"I thought this was Earth," he stated blandly, hiding his mirth from her.

"O-kaaaaay. What country are you from?"

"Krypton. But it is a planet. Not a country."

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're saying you are actually from another planet?"

"Yes."

"But…. Okay, I can see that. I've met aliens before, after all."

"You have?"

"Yes. But you're the first one that spoke such good English. I'm not counting the Martian, because he's a mind reader."

"A Martian? Here on Earth?"

"I guess he still is. I don't know. He's a bit wary of the government. With good cause, naturally. Anyway, spill. I've still got a deadline, and this is going to be a killer sidebar to my Luthor-Corp story."

"You do not fear those men will return to attempt to assassinate you again?"

"Those goons? Please. I know who sent them, and I've been ducking them for months since I started tracking down Lex's graft and corruption."

"You did not….duck them very well this evening."

"Well, even I didn't think he would try anything right after I left his private offices. Guess I was wrong."

"Apparently. But why risk your life if you know he would attempt to harm you?"

"Listen, buddy. I don't know how they do things on Krypto…."

"Krypton."

"Whatever," she snapped. "But on _this_ planet, Lex's brand of graft is just plain wrong. I'm a reporter, and I will do whatever it takes to let the public know about sleaze like him so they can take out the trash."

He simply arched a brow at that.

"Besides. He's targeting a friend of mine, and no way am is Lois Lane sitting on the sidelines while that bald tyrant goes after Emil Hamilton's lab."

"Dr. Hamilton resides in this region?"

"You know him?"

"Possibly. Was he the same Dr. Hamilton who was part of the X-1 Project for your nation's military?"

"Let's pretend I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a sly smile.

He only smiled back.

"In fact, why don't we start with your name?"

"I am Kal-El."

"Right. So, Kal-El? Do you just float around, or do you ever put those feet on the ground?"

He looked down.

"You wish to return to the ground?"

"Gee, now _that_ would be swell," she drawled sardonically.

"As you wish," he nodded, and swooped down to set her on the side of the road near where her car had been run off the highway.

"Well, there go my insurance premiums," she sighed, looking down at the dark water. "So, can you…..?"

She looked around, and frowned.

He was gone. Just gone.

"Typical," she growled, and turned to look toward the city. "Glad I wore flats today," she muttered, and began walking.

High overhead, Kal-El watched her, smiling.

The woman was spirited. Brave. And obviously committed.

More importantly, she knew of Luthor, and Dr. Hamilton. She bore watching, he decided. It was not as if he had anything else to do just then.

_Continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**3**

"I'm telling you, Emil," she told the older man over coffee in their usual diner the next day. "One minute I was sinking like a rock, and the next this….. Well, Goth Adonis just grabs my car in one hand, and tears the door off with the other like he was breaking a kiddy toy. Then, whoosh, we're fifty feet in the air just floating over the bay like it's nothing."

"Intriguing," Emil Hamilton agreed, stroking his trimmed, graying beard. "He definitely sounds like a very powerful individual. A meta?"

"That's just what I asked. He said he was from another planet, though."

"Really," the man murmured, stirring his own freshened coffee as he eyed her.

"By the way, Kal-El says hi."

"Kal…..El?"

"That's what he called himself. Kal-El. He seemed to know you. Said he met you at something called the….._X-1 Project_."

Lois smiled as Emil suddenly choked, and sputtered, almost spitting out his coffee as he heard those words. "_Gotcha_," she thought as she leaned back, and smiled smugly at him.

"So, what's the story, Emil? An old military project, wasn't it," she probed. "What happened?"

"Lois, X-1 is dead. Old news. Leave it that way. Because even your own father would bury you over this one."

"Old news is still news, Emil. Besides, they tried to bury _me_ last night, Emil. I still don't know why Lex is really targeting Star Labs lately. Not yet. Still, I get the feeling this gravity-defying alien is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg."

Emil sighed. "Trust me, Lois, if they knew he was still out there, they'd have the entire state cordoned off."

"Emil. This is me."

"I know, and that's what worries me, Lois. I cannot believe even you actually bearded Lex in his own private offices. Don't you realize how dangerous that could have been?"

"Please. We both know the man wouldn't get blood on his carpets. Or his hands. He'd wait until I left."

"Which he did," Emil hissed.

"That's right," she grumbled thoughtfully now. "And it makes Dr. Luthor look even less that reputable when two vehicles licensed to his lab suddenly chase me down on my way home, and run my car into the bay."

"How can you be sure….?"

"Emil, I've been doing this a while now. I got their tags, and ran them through the local precinct. They were his men, all right. I didn't get halfway back to the city before they were all over me, either."

"Well, whatever you do, you can't mention X-1, or Kal-El."

"But he's news, Emil," she scowled. "Big news! Another alien on Earth? A very powerful one, too!"

"You'll cause a panic," he warned her, sipping his coffee again.

"Right. Pull the other one."

He looked around, and then sighed. "Look. I can't explain here, but if you blow the lid off this one, your father is the least of those that will be coming after you. Trust me, Lois. Leave this one lay."

She snorted. "Since when have I ever left anything lay," she demanded.

The scientist shook his head. "True. You do have a lot of your father in you."

"You don't have to be insulting," she huffed indignantly as she signaled for a refill of her mug.

Emil smiled at that. "Just trust me on this one."

"We'll see," Lois told him. "Either way, I've got Lex dead-to-rights this time."

"Speaking of dead," a man drawled from behind Emil as he came up to stand behind the scientist just as the waitress left their table after refilling their cups. "Why don't you two just step outside with us," he said as four others in the same black suits, and mirrored shades appeared, and surrounded their table.

The speaker pulled back his jacket just far enough to show a pistol.

"Now," he said curtly as Emil looked up in alarm.

"Lex must be getting desperate," Lois smirked up at the man, holding her coffee between her mouth and the table.

Around them, three more men in black held the diner's other clientele at bay as they dared show in the daylight, in front of witnesses.

"Just a typical robbery, Lane," the spokesman drawled. "Now, you don't want any innocent bystanders getting hurt," he said. "So, let's go."

"You're kidding," she asked him, still holding her cup in her hand.

"Nice, and quiet," she was told as the man nodded to the side door of the small diner. Not the front.

"_Me_? Buddy, have you got the wrong woman," she smirked, and abruptly flung her entire cup of coffee into his face, even as an elbow found the unprotected groin of a man standing too close on her left. She used the now empty cup still clutched in her right hand to distract one of the three with their guns out, and he actually dropped his own gun to try to catch it when he threw it at his face.

By then she had shoved up from her chair, kicked another man squarely between his posturing legs, and jerked out his weapon from his waistband before pointing it right at the apparent leader who was by then recovering from her assault.

Emil, pale as slate, cowered in his chair as the men moved to surround Lois.

Her weapon never once wavered.

"Looks like we have a standoff," she smiled thinly as the man yet to even draw his weapon glared heatedly.

"You're crazy woman. You're outnumbered eight-to-one, and you can't possibly take all my men."

"No. But I can shoot you. Only you," she said, thumbing her hammer.

"Even if you kill me," he said coldly, now looking uncertain as to whether she was bluffing.

"Who said anything about killing you," she said, and lowered her aim blatantly to his groin.

The man's eyes rounded now.

"Still feeling…..cocky?"

"You…..bitch," he hissed, looking far less confident as he got the message.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Now, tell your boys to put their guns down, or you're going to be left only wishing you were a big man."

The man stared hard at her.

"Back off," he told his men.

"But, sir….!"

"Back off," he hissed. "It's not like she's going anywhere."

Which was when a gust of wind blew through the diner, and all eight men suddenly found themselves unarmed. Only Lois still had a weapon. Not that it mattered. All eight men were also sprawled out on the floor, out cold. Their weapons were laying on the table in front of Emil, and there wasn't a clue as to how it had happened.

"Uh, Lois?"

"Emil, we _really_ need to talk," she said, and lowered the hammer on the pistol before setting the weapon aside to yell at the stunned cashier, "Well, don't just stand there. Call the cops."

She had not missed the fact that every one of the pistols except hers had had their barrels crushed flat. and that it had all happened in an eye blink. Less than an eye blink. She had not even seen a thing. Even that Flash character reportedly left a streak behind him.

Emil, staring at the pile of weapons, said nothing.

**MoS**

Lex stared at Mercy with a look of bland indifference on his face as he eyed the woman. They both knew it was far from accurate.

"You're telling me she not only escaped a plunge into Hobbes' Bay, but has also managed to survive the _robbery_ we arranged this morning to silence her?"

"She seems to have a new guardian angel. A powerful one," Mercy told him. "Witnesses all claim there was a rush of air, and then the men were simply out cold."

"That West Coast _Flash_ character?"

"Hardly. He's too egotistical not to stay around for the press, and his accolades. Whoever or whatever it was, it was fast, _and_ invisible."

"Just what we need in this city. Another do-gooding meta with delusions of grandeur."

"Apparently one that is following Lane," she remarked dourly.

Lex rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "I've been wanting to get back into metagene research for a while. What better way that to obtain a living specimen right in my own back yard?"

"Sir?"

"Arrange another trap. But I want full containment, and _real_ professionals this time. I want Lane, and this apparent meta, in my hands by midnight tonight."

"I know just the people, Lex," she told him with a faint smile.

"See that they are aware that I do not brook failure, Ms. Graves."

"Understood."

"First, however, arrange for them to visit Star Labs. I think it is well past time Emil had his own unfortunate accident."

The woman only nodded.

**MoS**

"…..That was the last time I saw the man they had called X-1," Emil told her, Lois sitting in his private office as she sulked over Perry's refusal to run her story on Lex in spite of her twin close calls. It didn't help that all eight men arrested had said nothing, demanded lawyers, and were promptly bailed out before noon, only to be found dead in the city dump not three hours later.

It had Luthor's prints all over it. She just couldn't prove it without a living witness. Emil didn't count. His 'testimony' was suspect since he had no real evidence either, and his lab at been at odds with Luthor-Corp for over six months while Lex tried to force a hostile take-over of his private research labs. With Emil being the majority stockholder, however, he could vote him down every time. And had.

It had to be making Lex crazy.

Crazier.

Still, Lois had yet to figure out why was he so anxious to shut him down? Emil wouldn't mind knowing himself, but didn't have a clue he could offer Lois just then.

"Emil, if we could just tell people…."

"Tell them what, Lois," he asked. "That the government used to have an alien that escaped. That he was held in a place that used to be an underground prison that no longer exists?"

"I see your point," she grumbled sourly

"Besides. After the black eye they took on that one, _MRD_ doesn't even talk about X-1 any longer. Still, if it is him, you can bet they're going to be all over this area if word gets out."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not holding my breath. From what little I saw, they'd have a lot of trouble holding on to…."

They both looked up even as something crashed through the window, and a moment later they watched a tall man in black use his hands to literally muffle an explosion that send dust flying from between his joined fingers.

Then the big man turned and nodded at them with a faint smile.

"Dr. Hamilton. Ms. Lane. If you will excuse me?"

He was gone again just that fast.

Lois cleared her throat as Emil just stared at the locked file cabinet the man had torn open when he burst in before he had pulled out what was apparently a bomb to save them a very grizzly death. Emil rose to his feet, obviously stunned, and looked out the shattered window as a large sedan sped away without its lights on.

It didn't get fifty feet before it somehow rose into the air, and the mystery man shook the vehicle like a child's toy before spilling the men inside out to drop on the ground before he set the car aside. He then tore out a length of nearby fencing, and in a blur of motion, wound and bound the four men in dark fatigues inside the fencing before he turned to toss Lois and Emil a careless salute, and rose into the air fast enough that he seemed to all but vanish into the night sky.

"You tell me, Emil," Lois drawled wryly, suddenly very grateful for the small digital camera Jimmy had finally talked her into carrying. Most of the shots she previewed were blurs of motion, but one stood out. An image of the darkly clad man holding the car over his head as he prevented the would-be assassins' escape. "Was that him?"

"He's…..grown," the older man told her mildly, his eyes still betraying his genuinely stunned demeanor.

"Gee, no? You think?"

"Lois, just over two years ago he tore his way out of a hardened military research lab with relatively little effort. I almost shudder to think what he could do now."

"You said you pitied him," Lois remarked.

"I did. I do. But now….considering how we treated him, I admit I'm just a little bit afraid of him. Because whatever brought him here, and whatever keeps him here, he's more than capable of getting some of his own back."

"Yeah? So why's he keep hanging around saving my admittedly shapely backside, then? Because that doesn't strike me as the sort of thing a vindictive alien would be doing," she remarked as she turned back to scoop up her purse, hunting her cell. Perry had to publish this one. Especially after she showed him the pictures. Well, at least one.

"Maybe he just….likes you," he realized belatedly after a moment.

Lois smiled, and hummed thoughtfully.

It was an expression that Emil, as her godfather, had come to lament over the years.

**MoS**

"Did I, or did I not, ask for professionals," Lex asked quietly as Mercy walked into his office the following morning as he looked at his desk, rather than the panoramic view from his city tower that he usually favored.

"Lex. Mr. Luthor….."

"Yes, or no, Mercy?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then….._what_ is this," he thundered, and pounded a fist on the paper that lay on is desk.

The image was striking. A man with obvious muscle holding up a car as if he were he were holding up a Styrofoam prop in a movie. His face was partially hidden in shadow, but there was no doubt it was a man, and the silver glyph on his chest was more than intriguing, but still told him nothing.

The paper's headline trumpeted; "_Mystery Superman Saves Local Scientist_!"

Mercy grimaced as she looked helplessly at the paper she had already read. Twice. There was nothing beyond a stunning story of the mystery man diffusing a bomb in a unique manner before capturing the 'assassins' in the same inimitable fashion before he vanished.

"We didn't expect this, Lex. Strong, yes. Fast, obviously. But this man is also….."

"Did I ask for excuses, Mercy," Lex asked in a dangerous tone even as the phone rang. "Luthor," he barked, all but pounding the intercom since his secretary was not in yet. It was still too early for her.

"Hello, Dr. Luthor," a gruff voice drawled. "Tell me, why is it that _X-1 _on the front page of the Daily Planet, and yet I don't even get a call from you?"

"General Lane," he murmured, then looked at the paper again. "Are you telling me….?" "It should be obvious, Dr. Luthor," the brusque Marine general in charge of the Pentagon's top secret Military Research Department, AKA MRD drawled. "In case it wasn't, my daughter called me at 0300 this morning asking about Project X, _and_ X-1. Tell me, Dr. Luthor. Are you selling our secrets again? Because if you are….."

"I'm not selling anything. I've been trying to shut your loud-mouthed spawn up for over a week now. Apparently, however, X-1 seems to have taken a liking to her. He keeps showing up every time we….."

"Target her?"

Lex said nothing.

"Don't forget. My daughter was one of the best Recon Marines that ever served in her time. Just my luck she decided to turn into a crusader after she caught wind of that human metagene testing project you ran for us back then. I hope that this time you're being more careful at Cadmus?"

"Cadmus is secure."

"Good. Good. Then listen very carefully, Lex," the general told him.

"Sir?"

"Leave my daughter alone. I'll handle her. You need to quit playing games with Star, and Emil, too. They are unimportant. Focus on X-1. Needless to say, now that we know he's still on the planet, and in the area, we'd like him back. In one piece. I do not care how you manage it, but I want him back in our custody. The sooner. the better."

"You can't expect me to just….."

"Lex. You will follow orders on this one, or the public scrutiny Lois might bring your less than legitimate side ventures won't amount to half the grief I drop on your bald head. Understand me, mister," the man spat before hanging up.

Lex growled himself as he hung up the phone after the general hung up on him.

"Get the car," he told her. "We're going to Cadmus. And clear my calendar for the week."

"Yes, sir," Mercy nodded obediently.

**MoS**

Lois stared at the phone on her desk that rang for the twenty-ninth time.

Nineteen were hacks looking for 'Superman's' number. Three were from sources asking if she'd like to go out again some time soon. Two were wrong numbers. The last five were all from her father. She had hung up every time he started his usual, and characteristic bellowing that she interpreted as commands.

"City desk, Lois Lane," she answered blandly, guessing who this call was from well enough since the caller ID was blank, but still priding herself as a professional.

"Lois, I am speaking to you as a concerned father….."

"Fine. Then act like it. I'm not in uniform any more, dad. So don't think you can just bark orders, or anything else. I'm an adult now, and don't you forget it."

Samuel Lane grumbled something under his breath, and Lois smirked knowingly. "So, General Lane," she went on, tapping a pencil against her desk as if her desktop and personal notebook weren't open right in front of her. "Do you have any comment on the alleged 'Superman' sighted in Metropolis recently?"

"Lois, I'm saying this as a concerned father, as much as a ranking general. Do not get involved in this one. It's bigger than you realize, and you could really get hurt. Please listen to me for once in your stubborn life."

"So, you're admitting the Pentagon, and MRD do have something to do with _X-1_?"

Sam was very quiet.

"Should I take that as a 'no comment,'" she asked.

"Lois….."

"So, he is one of yours? Meta-human, or _alien_, dad?"

"Lois," he growled, his infamous temper rising.

"Hmmmm. No comment again. Right?"

This time he hung up on her.

Nice to know things hadn't changed. Still, it was telling that he had felt compelled to call her. Lex and his goons had been trying to kill her for over a week, but he never said a word. Let word get out about one of his precious special projects showing up on her radar, though, and he was 'dad of the year.' Yep, you had to love Sam Lane.

She just didn't trust him.

Still, it did seem Kal-El, possibly AKA X-1, was shadowing her lately.

That was kind of creepy in a way, but unlike her usual stalkers, he seemed content to just sit back and wait for opportunities to jump in and save her life. Or fly in, or whatever. It made her wonder what the guy was doing the rest of the time he wasn't swooping down out of the sky to save her butt, because she didn't see him standing around downtown in that outfit that looked kind of unfriendly in her eyes even with the big silver 'S' that had inspired her colorful appellation that some of the media had taken and run with since her story broke.

No surprise the mercenaries he caught had been tight-lipped, and said nothing when they were dragged in by the cops. Someone did try to bail them out, but the judge wasn't having that this time. He kept them locked up, and was waiting for some hotshot federal prosecutor to come in and take over this investigation. Too many bodies lately even for Metropolis' corrupt officials. They had to at least pretend to look competent with an election year coming up.

Drumming her fingers on the desk, she considered all the pieces of a growing puzzle she was putting together.

She knew that her dad had been part of MRD almost from the start. From what she gathered, it began as in investigation into the growing mystery of the 'capes' that were starting to pop up everywhere. Even Russia and China had their own homegrown mystery men according to some of her international sources. Some claimed this crop of metas appearing was due in part to man's continuing evolution. Some claimed it was the result of alien experimentation.

The same ones that claimed there were aliens on the planet.

She might have been the first to scoff at that one once upon a time. If her unit had not been one of those that once had to face off against a nine foot yellow giant with tech right out of the movies back when she was a green rookie. Apparently, as tough as the four-armed bull from space was, a grenade shoved in the right place would bring anything down. That was about the time she started earning her rep as a ball-buster, and a dyke.

Well, that, and breaking the arm of a captain who thought he was an octopus.

The latter didn't help her career, but she didn't last long anyway when she realized her own government was using men who volunteered to defend their nation as guinea pigs. A fact overlooked by their own superiors. It went against everything she had been taught to believe in and respect. She blew the whistle without pausing to think of morals, or ethics. She acted because people were dying. Needlessly, in her eyes, and she didn't hesitate to blow that proverbial whistle long and loud.

Even if it turned out her father was connected to the project run by a brash young researcher with more concern over results than his test subjects. Lex had been a thorn in her side ever since. And, of course, vice versa.

Still, if Kal-El were one of her father's, how did he get him in the first place? He was simply too powerful for her to believe they had captured him through force. Emil still hadn't told her much beyond admitting MRD once held him, and that he one day got away. She wondered, too, if it might be part of the reason Lex was now targeting Emil again. There was still a lot unsaid. A lot that made her guess there was one heck of a story still waiting out there.

If she could dig it out.

"Lane! Why are still sitting around here," Perry demanded as he came out of his office with a lit cigar clamped in teeth, defying the 'No Smoking' signs all around them.

"I'm working, Chief," she told him blandly. "Can't you tell?"

Someone sniggered briefly until Perry's dark gaze turned toward them.

"Well since your fingers aren't on those keys, I'm guessing you're not. So get out of here and find that _Superman_, and get his story. Papers don't run on yesterday's news, you know?"

Lois wisely refrained from commenting on that one.

"I'm chasing leads now," she told him, tapping the phone with her pencil.

Perry White eyed her, and shook his head. "Fine. But when you decide to get off that butt of yours, take Olsen with you next time. You may be a decent reporter, but you can't take a picture to save your….."

"C'mon, Chief," Lois frowned. "I got a decent shot."

"Out of how many," he fumed.

"Fine. Fine. I'll take Olsen. After you get him paper-trained," she added.

The young redhead across the office paused to glare her way before dropping the mail in 'Cat's' box, and went on to deliver the rest of the morning mail. Even now, he had a camera dangling from his neck, carrying a fanny pack full of gear, and likely had his pockets stuffed with film and batteries. When Perry told the ambitious kid a good photographer slept with his camera, she had the feeling the kid took it literally.

She sighed, shook her head, and realized Perry was still eyeing her.

"Well?"

"Fine. Fine. I'm going. To lunch," she told him, knowing Perry was the kind of dinosaur that thought you had to be out on the streets 24/7 to get a real story, and God help you if you didn't have sources. Real ones, as he was the type to check himself.

Just ask Steve Lombardi, whose journalism career lasted exactly three days before he was kicked out on his fabricated résumé when one of the stories he passed off as legit turned out to be total fabrication. Fortunately, Perry had decided to check it out before it ran. Last she heard of that overly groomed poster boy, Steve was doing weather at the Lex Channel, as she called WLX. All propaganda, all the time.

"Let's go, Olsen. Keep up, or I'm dumping you," she added on the way to the elevators.

"Lane," Perry bellowed her way as she stepped into the lift.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

Jimmy only smiled, and raced over to join her, holding his camera up like a sword as he exclaimed, "Don't worry, Miss Lane. We won't let you down."

"_We_," she drawled as she glanced at the kid that didn't look old enough to shave.

Jimmy only smiled as he held up his camera.

"Swell," she muttered, and stabbed the floor button she wanted.

_Continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**4**

For six days, Lois felt she had literally wore out her shoe leather looking for a lead that led her nowhere. Lex's goons seemed to have stopped targeting her, but that just meant her guardian angel stopped showing up. Jimmy remained cheerful and optimistic, but Lois was ready to spit nails.

It didn't help that she had already spotted one of her father's 'minders' trailing her. The jerk just didn't give up. He was still trying to control her life. Although even she had to guess a large part of the reason for her new tail was likely because of Kal-EL. She knew so little of him, and yet she had probably learned more than her father's bully-boys had in all the time they had him strapped down in one of their Frankenstein labs, as she considered them.

Learning her father was part of Luthor's whole genetic research debacle back at the beginning had not helped her image of her rigid, controlling father who saw life as black and white. His way, or no way. Literally. No wonder her mother bailed. Too bad she had left her behind.

"C'mon," she told Jimmy as she headed for the park. "It's time for lunch. I'll buy you a hotdog."

"But those things are bad for you," the young man frowned. "I heard from Marvin in Health that…."

"Kid, _everything's_ bad for you. The trick is to ignore it, and just enjoy life. Because it's coming to an end whether you're eight or eighty, healthy or sick, and there's nothing you can do about it. Trust me on that."

"Well, that's kind of….. Ms. Lane," he turned back to see why she had stopped, and was looking up.

He looked up, too, at a private jet that had missed the nearby airport and was heading right for the park crowded with afternoon joggers, families, and the like. "I think we're about to have one of Perry's stories dropped right in our laps, Jimmy," she told him, staring at the jet with a smoking engine coming right at them.

"Oh, man," the young photographer gasped, raising his camera. "Do you think it's going to explode," he asked even as it apparently tried to pull up, but kept coming down.

Lois turned, watching it as it filled the air with a howling wail that was soon joined by the screams of those watching. A lot of the spectators turned to flee in vain, but it was obvious the jet was going to hit, and hit hard.

Right before a colorful blur shot across the sky, and the jet suddenly slowed, and then seemed to hang frozen in midair.

"Is it him," Jimmy gasped in wonder, seeing a small, humanoid shape under the jet that was now slowly being carried down vertically even as Lois frowned.

Was that a _red_ cape? That was new.

"Tell me you're getting this," she hissed, not taking her eyes off the jet, or the man under it as he dropped down to set the aircraft in the middle of a wide meadow, and stepped out from under it to pull the door open, and help out the young pilot and his family out of the downed aircraft.

Jimmy, who had started to lower his camera, quickly raised it again to snap frame after frame as the colorfully clad hero turned to look right at them.

"Is it the same guy? He looks…..different from your picture," Jimmy remarked as the Superman stood there for a moment, his costume now a bold blue with his trademark insignia a startling red over a yellow shield emblazoned across his chest. His matching red cape fell over his broad shoulders as he nodded to Lois, and then he simply looked up, and was gone in the same instant.

"It's definitely him," she murmured, still seeing that quick wink just before he launched himself into the sky again.

"Wonder why he changed outfits," Jimmy remarked, now snapping pictures of the jet that was still smoking, but apparently safe if the bizarre hero had flown off without bothering to warn anyone.

"I wonder," she remarked dryly, recalling when she had informed him; '_Nice costume, but it's a bit bleak.' _Had he changed because of her words? Had he actually listened to her?

"C'mon, Olsen. We gotta get back to the Planet before the video bloggers scoop us," she shouted.

"But what about our hotdogs?"

"Haven't you heard," she snapped, all but dragging him after her. "Those things are _bad_ for you."

Twenty minutes later, Jimmy's proofs in hand, she ran into the chief's office, and handed him a few sheets of hastily written type. "We saw him again, Chief. He….."

"I heard. Saved a small jet from crashing in the park. You have pictures," he asked coolly as he took the prose and images.

"Olsen was right there beside me," she grinned, letting him sift through the startling images that were admittedly better than what she had managed.

"Good. Good. These will make a great front page."

Lois beamed.

"Just the pictures, Lane. Your story gets the sidebar."

"The sidebar! I was there, Chief! I saw the whole thing. We….."

"I have another front page in mind," he said, and held up his hands to frame his title. "_The Superman Speaks!""_

"That's peachy, Chief, but last I heard, he hadn't given any interviews."

"I know one he gave."

"What?"

"Right on time," Perry said as he looked up as his door opened again. "Lois Lane, say hello to our newest reporter."

She turned to gape at the man standing in the door wearing a dark navy rumpled suit, and thick glasses.

"Clark Kent. He just dropped the story of the century in our laps. The life and times of the _Superman_."

"He said his name was Kal-El, Mr. White," the unassuming drone in a navy suit, with thick glasses remarked quietly.

"'_Superman_' sells, Kent. Since it's my paper, we'll stick with that for now."

"Kent? Kent? Who are you, and how the hell did you steal my story?"

"We don't publish personal biographies here, Lane. Unless they're famous," he added after a moment. "Make nice on your own time. Kent, have you finished the article?"

"Yes, sir," he said, and handed over several sheets of neat type.

"Damn, man. Fast, _and_ accurate," he grinned as he scanned the pages. "You're going to put my spell-check department out of a job. What about facts," he went on in the same breath. "I told you, we only publish facts. You have backup for your statements?"

"Yes, sir. Although some of the details were edited due to the fact I couldn't substantiate comments from the MRD's chief personnel involved in the case just yet."

"MRD," Lois frowned at the man with drooping shoulders. "What personnel, Kent," she snapped. "What case?"

"The Superman's background story," Perry all but crooned. "The truth of what he's been doing all this time. Let Luthor's media machine try to scoop us now," he laughed, and scanned the pages he held. "Perfect. With this background, and Olsen's pictures, we'll make history for sure with this one."

Lois gasped anew.

"Oh, we can still use your story, too, Lane. Adds color," the gruff old report turned editor grinned.

"_Color_!"

"Watch yourself, Kent. That woman is a real tiger when you rile her," Perry grinned as Lois stalked out of his office, slamming the door behind her.

"Whatever you say, Mr. White."

"Good, because I'm saying get back to work. I need headlines for _tomorrow_'s paper. Go get them."

"Yes, sir," Clark nodded, and walked out.

"Nice guy," he murmured, looking back to his story as he wondered how long he would last when Lois got after him. Nothing fired her competitive juices up like having someone pull the proverbial rug out from under her.

Clark walked out of the editor's office, glanced toward Lois who had stormed over to her own desk, and dropped down to glare at the computer monitor in front of her. He gave a faint smile, and then walked over to his own desk. Coincidentally located just a few feet from her own. He began ordering his already orderly desk when Lois appeared at his side, glowering down at him.

"All right, Kent. Spill."

"Spill," he frowned.

"You know what I mean. How's a clueless bumpkin like you just happen to walk in here with the story I've been chasing all week?"

"Well, Lois, surely you realize I didn't even realize you were chasing it. I do hope there's no hard feelings….."

"Just tell me how you did it? Faked an emergency? Sent up a flare? Took out an ad? Who are you, mister, and how did you _steal my story_," she all but yelled in his face.

Not one of those in the bullpen so much as looked their way.

Even Jimmy was noticeably absent just then.

"Gee, Lois. First of all, I didn't realize you were chasing the story. And, secondly, I just had it kind of fall in my lap to be honest. You see….."

"Fall in your lap," she growled, her teeth audibly grinding.

"Yes. You see my bus hit a bad patch of road on the way into town, but before it could crash into the bay, ah, the….Superman caught us."

"I had heard about that one," she gritted out.

Heard, but missed it. She had been on the other side of town yesterday when that had happened. So much for wondering if the Superman was still just following her around.

"Anyway, since I was hoping to….break into journalism, I thought getting an interview with our rescuer might go a long way….."

"Wait. You just asked him to tell you his story? And he did?"

"Well, yes, Lois….."

"You call me Ms. Lane. I don't know you yet, Kent. I'm not sure I want to know you. Got it?"

"Sure, Ms. Lane," he smiled up at her.

"By the way, Lane," Perry opened his office door, and shouted her way. "I'm putting Kent on the city beat with you. Show him the ropes."

"_Chief_," she turned to shout back, but the door had already closed.

Lois turned and looked down at Clark Kent, who was actually smiling now.

"Don't get cocky, hayseed."

"Hayseed?"

"I know a hick when I see one. I give you one week before I kick you out of the bullpen. Maybe even the city. But I'm warning you now, you slow me down, and I'm leaving you behind anyway. Got it, Kent?"

"Yes, ma'am, Ms. Lane," he told her.

"Olsen, let's go," she shouted. Then looked over her shoulder at Clark, and demanded, "Well, are you waiting on an invitation? Put it in gear, thief. We have work to do."

"Uh, thief, Ms. Lane," he asked as he jumped up, grabbed a voice recorder on his desk to shove in his pocket, and then followed after her as a harried Jimmy Olsen came running over to join them.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Kent," Jimmy grinned.

"You know him?"

"Well, sure. I met him when Mr. White had me show him a desk where he could…. Uh, he could….type….up….his…."

He looked between the two of them as they waited on the elevator. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Clark told him.

"Yes," Lois hissed.

"Uh, I'll just….stay out of this one," he decided, and went back to fumbling with his camera.

"By the way, James. Those were nice shots you took. I, uh, saw them on Mr. White's desk when I gave him my story. You've got quite an eye."

"Gee, thanks, Mr. Kent."

"Suck up much," Lois growled at him.

Jimmy only sighed as Clark pointedly stayed silent.

**MoS**

Kal-El hovered over the city, watching the streets from miles overhead as he listened to every sound around him.

Deciding to enter the world as 'Clark Kent' had been an impulsive decision, but he found it was oddly enjoyable to interact with people without them gaping at you in either fear, or awe. He was just another human when he became Clark. An identity he had taken on only after sifting through tens of thousands of likely personas before he had found one that came with a technically legitimate background.

Twenty-five years ago, Clark Kent had been born to Jonathan and Martha Kent in a colorfully named town of Smallville, Kansas. The simple farming family had raised him on that farm until he was five, at which time they lost their farm, volunteered for mission work, and took young Clark to China with them. The Kents later died in a massive quake in a distant province, their son apparently lost with them among the thousands of others that died, too. Only where the Kents' bodies were returned for burial, Clark was never found. Considering the many lost or missing at the time, no one was overly surprised.

Kal-El found the missing Clark made the perfect cover, and adopted the identity as an orphaned child lost in an overcrowded Chinese province who grew up to make his own way across the continent before returning home. That he just happened to have flawless language skills only added to the authenticity of his tale. It helped that he was the same apparent age as the missing child, too.

He wondered idly how long Lois would take to sniff out the story he had set down once Clark Kent 'officially' returned to America from a Beijing embassy. From what he had seen and learned of the woman, she would likely not be satisfied until she assured herself she knew everything about him. Or rather, about Kent. She was a most vibrant, and remarkable female.

Daring, too. He had seen few on this planet that would have taken half the chances she had knowing that her life would be imperiled. Yet she did so again and again without hesitation.

Even deep in thought, he heard the scream, and looked down to seek its source. He quickly realized it was just children playing. He smiled, still touched by the novel sight of ordinary children playing ordinary games. He remembered only a long, despairing youth chained in small rooms with only glowing rocks and scowling soldiers, or indifferent scientists for company. Soldiers that did not care if he were educated, or entertained. Scientists that only wanted to pry whatever secrets they thought he held from him. To them, he was just one artifact they were guarding at the time.

Focusing his eyes, he found and watched Lois stalking her own apartment like a restless predator, and while he didn't tune his hearing to her, he could tell she was ranting at someone over the telephone receiver she held. He couldn't help but smile.

When he first approached Lois, he considered letting her tell his story once the idea of letting the world know who he was had occurred to him. He hoped telling just enough of the truth would satisfy those around him, and show them that they did not need to fear him. That idea had appealed to him. Still, it occurred to him that those that still hunted him might think she was becoming…..special to him, and they might even use her against him. He could not allow that.

So, while they might have been able to target Lois Lane, just let them try to hunt Clark, and see how far they got. Meanwhile, he would keep Lois at a respectful distance just so that no one like Dr. Luthor, or General Flagg thought she was a string that could be used to bind him. He suspected men like that would be all too eager to try from what he had seen of this world to date.

Unfortunately, men like Emil Hamilton were proving all too rare.

Still, he had hope. Which, he supposed, was what his father must have had when he first launched him into space to seek asylum on this alien world.

He turned, a shrill alarm sounding in his ears this time even as he heard gunshots, and a quick glance told him the police below were outnumbered, and outgunned. He flung himself down at the planet, and closed the distance in seconds.

Even as the man in heavy Kevlar was slapping a fresh clip into a mini-gun he aimed at the police, he landed in the street between them.

"Keep back," he told the police as he turned to the criminals who gaped at him.

"Is the circus in town," one of the thugs mocked.

"No, it's that freakin' Superman they're talking about."

"Well, I ain't heard he's bulletproof," the tattooed felon with the mini-gun scoffed as he pulled the trigger. "So, let's find out," he spat as hundreds of rounds exploded out of the barrel to slam into his chest, ricocheting wildly.

Kal-El glanced back and forth, his glowing eyes vaporizing the stray rounds so no one was hurt. The few he didn't consider a threat simply bounced off his invulnerable body, and clattered around his feet. The men quit laughing as he walked steadily toward them, his eyes still glowing as their weapons all began to dramatically heat up.

The men hunched behind the armored truck howled in pain as they flung their super-heated weapons aside, and favored seared flesh as the police swarmed them.

"Anything else I can do, officer," he asked a somber-eyed woman in plain clothes with a short shag who wore a badge when she stormed after him after the men were taken into custody.

"You can come down to the station, mister," she told him. "Because while you might have the right intentions, it's still illegal to…"

He glanced off to one direction even as he heard a shrill scream.

"Sorry. Fire on Tenth and Murdock. You might want to alert the appropriate departments," he said even as he rose into the air, and vanished in a blur of speed.

Maggie Sawyer, head of Metropolis' Special Crimes Unit turned to glare around her, eyes blazing, and demanded of one officer. "Well? You heard him. Call it in."

She then stalked over to her squad where a bull of a man lounged against the car, chewing an unlit cigar.

"Quit grinning, and get us over there. I'm not finished with this guy!"

"Anything you say, Cap," Dan Turpin grinned. "But I get the feeling he ain't the type to hang around once he does his thing."

"Just move," she demanded as other officers at the scene arrested the felons, most of them going to need a doctor for their scorched hands. She found it hard to care with five of her own down. Down, but thankfully not dead. She knew all too well it could have easily been the other way.

Dan slammed the door, and made a reporter curse as he almost ran him down as he spun the squad around, and headed for the fire.

By the time they arrived, the now only smoldering building was already emptied, and the fire department was just arriving. The red and blue clad vigilante was nowhere to be seen. Maggie barely resisted the urge to curse. Then she eyed Dan, and said, "Didn't the _Planet_ get the first story on this guy? Maybe one of them knows….?"

"Word is, Lane chased him for over a week without finding him. Seems he only shows when something major is going down."

"I don't care. I won't have any masked vigilantes in my city."

"I don't think he's masked, Cap'n," he grinned sardonically.

She glared potently at him.

Dan only smirked at her glare. He was one of the few that could do so, and get away with it.

"We'll talk with Lane tomorrow. And what was the other one? The guy that actually reported his story?"

"Kent. Heard Lane was ready to drop him off the Metro Bridge when he showed up, and scooped her on that one."

"You hear a lot," Maggie murmured.

"Hey, a good cop has his sources."

"Who is she? And does she know you're only looking for another ex-wife to support?"

Dan grinned. "C'mon, Mags, don't be like that."

"Just head back to the precinct. We still have to question Diamond's gang, and find out how they knew about the special gold transfer tonight. Or did your sources tell you about that one, too?"

"Not a word," he sighed as he headed back to their precinct with his usual lack of respect for most of the city's traffic laws.

She only shook her head at him.

**MoS**

Maggie yawned as she set her coffee cup in the sink after she rinsed it out.

"Detective Sawyer," someone addressed her, and she stared directly out the kitchen window at the red S on a broad chest. "I heard you were looking for me."

Even as Maggie absorbed the fact she had no fire escape this high on her apartment building, she realized, too, that the caped man knew where she lived.

Toby screeched as she fumbled with her robe, turning her back on the man in the window, and Maggie glowered all the more.

"Sorry, Ms. Raines," he added as Maggie ground her own teeth, wondering why he was really here, and what she could do about it. "I didn't mean to alarm you."

Toby turned, her robe now more securely wrapped around her as she stayed just behind her lover, aware of who he was not only from the news, but from Mags' constant grumbling of late.

"Uh, no…. No problem."

He smiled, and nodded, and she had to admit, there didn't seem to be any condescension or disdain in that clear gaze she usually received from those that knew she and Maggie were in a relationship.

"By the way, that was a nice article you wrote on geothermal energy. Good work. I think you were doing better with your solar theories, though."

"Save it, mister. My office in thirty. Got it," Maggie growled, pointing at him with her coffee cup. "We'll discuss your lack of _manners,_ along with your other flaws, then."

"As you wish, detective," he nodded, and flew off without looking back.

"Can you believe that," Toby exclaimed as Maggie scowled after the colorfully clad vigilante.

"I can't believe he knew where I lived," she huffed.

"He reads my work," Toby grinned.

"Down, girl," Maggie growled, and slammed her mug on the sink. "I'd better get going. I get the feeling the guy will be there in thirty minutes, and not one minute before, or after."

"It's not like that," Toby huffed, hearing Maggie's tone. "A guy like _that_ reads my work!"

Maggie sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"Get dressed, Toby," she growled. "I have to get to the office."

_Continued… _


	5. Chapter 5

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**5**

"You're late, Kent," Lois grumbled as she leaned back in her chair, eyeing the monitor on her desk as she stared at the display.

"Sorry. I was down at the precinct with Captain Sawyer."

"Maggie? Why?"

"Oh, I was on my way in when I noticed the Superman landing. I went in to see what was going on, but he was gone by the time I managed to get inside. I did get a quick and dirty statement from the head of SCU regarding the city's colorfully clad champion," he said, patting a pocket with his notepad in it.

"Really? What did she say?"

"Only that she wasn't endorsing a vigilante operating in Metropolis, but that if he wanted to be a civic-minded sort, and help out _without_ breaking any laws, she wouldn't complain."

"Maggie actually gave him that much leeway," Lois blinked in astonishment, knowing all too well what the woman thought of people taking the law into their own hands.

"I believe it helped that our new hero also saved a lot of lives, including police officers, last night during a failed gold heist. Still, she did insist he hang up the cape, and join the force if he planned on fighting crime."

"What failed gold heist," Lois asked, coming up straight now to eye him as he switched on his computer. "Hang up his….? Is she crazy?"

"I'll let you read all about it in a few minutes," he grinned as he started to type.

"Listen, Kent," she muttered.

"Just a moment, Ms. Lane," he smiled, and rose after a flurry of typing that had her gaping. He walked over to the printer, and pulled out the sheets before he turned back and told her, "I'll be with you right after I deliver these."

"Now, just one….."

"Mr. White. I have that new story you wanted," he told him as he walked past her, ignoring her sputtering, and entered the office.

Lois looked around her, saw the smirking co-workers around her, and felt her temper surge.

"He did not just dismiss me," she growled, and stormed toward the office where the newcomer had just disappeared behind a closing door.

She shoved the door open barely an instant after it had closed, and glared at the man who cut her out of the biggest story of the decade. Maybe the century. A story she felt was hers from the start, since she had virtually been the one to 'discover' the 'Superman' in the first place.

Well, she had been the first to be rescued by him, so far as she knew.

"All right, Kent. What have you got that has you…..?"

"Perfect," Perry White growled as he reviewed the neatly printed pages after Clark handed him the story. "This is going to be big. We can run polls on page two, asking for reader input, and really milk this one. Good job, Kent," he grinned, and put the papers down. "And I've got the perfect banner."

"Chief," Lois complained, eyeing those pages.

Perry held up his hands, envisioning large print as he said, "The perfect headline. We'll run it as, '_Superman Grounded! SCU Tells Hero, 'Thanks, But No Thanks!_'"

"Mr. White, that's a bit of an oversimplification….."

"Kent, you wirte the stories, and I'll write the banners. Okay? Okay. Now, get out there, and find me my next story," he grinned.

"But, Chief," Lois sputtered.

"Move it, Lane. Before I start thinking you're getting too old for this work."

"Too old," Lois fairly growled as Clark already turned to go. "This is not over," she hissed at her boss, then stalked after Kent.

**MoS**

Clark had to hide his smile as Lois lambasted him again and again in surprisingly novel ways as she likened him to a thief, a monster, and far worse as she questioned his parentage, his upbringing, and his character every other word.

Lois, he was finding, was more than merely a crusader. She was highly competitive.

"So, Ms. Lane," he said with a perfectly straight face as they walked down the sidewalk of the city streets without any evident destination so far as Clark could tell from his companion's current manner. "Would you like to stop for lunch?"

"You hitting on me, Kent," she glowered. "Do you think you can….?"

"I just thought you'd be hungry," he told her with a very faint smile. "It has been a long morning."

She glared, then told him, "Just as long as you don't expect me to eat Chinese," she quipped. "I hate that stuff."

Clark blinked in faux innocence, easily guessing she was probing now, and had obviously been doing some of that anticipated checking on him Still, he couldn't resist asking, "Why, Lois, how did you know I like Chinese?"

"I know all about you, Smallville," he was called tellingly. "Small-town farm boy raised by Chinese nuns. I don't care about that. I care about you stealing my story," she glowered.

"Ms. Lane….."

"However, as an acceptable start toward redeeming yourself," Lois told him, "You may treat me to lunch. No fast food, either," she scowled.

"Anything you want," he assured her as they continued down the sidewalk.

"Well, you'd better have a good credit card, mister. Because I am hungry," the woman told him with a growl.

Clark said nothing as he followed her toward a very trendy café where the food apparently wasn't bad, just overpriced.

Afterward, listening to Lois chortle after his likely having to settle for peanut butter for a few nights, she led him to the mayor's office, where they got the mayor, and the commissioner's take on the Superman situation. Both seemed to agree that while his aid was appreciated, vigilantes were unwanted in Metropolis. Did he willingly join the local police, he would be more than welcome.

The implication was that metas didn't belong in costume. They belonged under the heel of traditional authority. Or so Lois slanted the follow-up piece to Clark's story after they returned to the Planet.

Clark could hardly argue the point as he researched the meta issue in the nation, and across the globe. The American military was hardly unique in its hostile stance toward metas or aliens. They were just more open about it.

He had already noted that a few military units in the region had moved discreetly closer to Metropolis, and three major armed camps were just outside the city, allegedly carrying out 'war games' in the area.

Suddenly, his 'civilian' identity made a great deal of sense as he considered how difficult it might be for him to remain 'Superman' all the time if he wanted to actually get anything done in this area. He was going to have to do something about the military sooner or later, though. He did not intend to have them chasing him all over the country in some misguided attempt to recapture him.

He also felt this Luthor required more scrutiny. Between his initial work on the X-1 project, and the rumors of Cadmus he had been hearing of late, he thought it was important he investigate the meta question himself before they did find something, or someone, that could endanger him.

Or the planet.

Since his father's archives made it clear that more than a few promising worlds had destroyed themselves long before they could reach their full potential in the history of their galaxy. Which implied Earth might join that list if men didn't stop warning on their own evolutionary development with such blind disdain for their own species. For even he could see that metas were obviously just a new evolutionary threshold for a remarkably adaptable species.

That said, he didn't wish to end up watching a world die as his own must have after his father had sent him here in hopes that he might thrive.

"Mr. Kent," Jimmy exclaimed as he ran into the office just then, looking excited, "Have you heard the news?"

"What news, Jimmy," he asked as he looked up from the research he was doing on metas as a cover for his own more in-depth research on the issue.

"Something just landed in downtown, and it's tearing the whole city up," the redheaded photographer exclaimed. "Half the cops in the city are down there, and they can't stop it!"

"Stop what," Lois asked, returning from an errand of her own just then.

"No one knows. Anyone that gets too close gets hurt. Or killed. Something serious is really ripping apart the city, and even SCU can't slow it down. I heard some of the guys were betting over whether Superman would show or not."

"Wasn't it made clear he wasn't wanted," Clark asked blandly even as he surreptitiously lowered his glasses, and glanced in the direction his retuned hearing now focused.

He spotted the trouble almost at once. A six-six cyborg of unknown construct was literally tearing apart the city, smashing cars, walls, or people in grim abandon. He realized the body count could easily spike into the thousands if he didn't do something. Yet to act would shatter the truce he had made with Detective Sawyer who bluntly stated she wanted no caped vigilantes in her city.

"We'd better get down there, and see what we can find out," Clark said all the same as he rose to his feet.

"Stay here, and play librarian, Kent," Lois cut him off, grabbing her purse, and dragging Jimmy after him. "I'll handle this one."

"Ms. Lane, are you sure…?"

"The pair disappeared into an elevator, and Clark frowned.

He was about to follow them when the phone rang, and someone across the room shouted at him.

"For you, Kent."

Clark stabbed the button, careful not to push too hard as he answered the line, and heard Maggie's frantic voice shouting, "Get them back! All of them, damn it!"

"Hello," he spoke blandly, well aware what she was facing out there.

"Kent? You're the reporter that knows Superman, right? Listen, whatever it takes, we need to get him down here. Now! We need his help. Can you….?"

She stopped to shout more orders even as something exploded in the background, and he glanced toward her way as he saw a fuel tanker going up, and the unstoppable juggernaut stomping through flaming wreckage as he turned her way.

"Kent, we can argue later. Tell that man we need him now!"

"I'll see what I can do," he told her somberly, and hung up before walking to the nearest supply room door.

He glanced around, slipped inside, and less than an eye blink later, Superman was flying directly toward the chaos.

**MoS**

"Kent? Kent? Damn it, I think I lost him," Maggie said as she turned to see the metal thing stalking toward her as its fleshy façade now seemed torn, or even melted in places as the destructive thing stomped her way with cold menace in its glowing eyes.

The sun turned the sky dull red as the smoke and flame blocked the sunset more than usual, and she had the uneerie feeling she was about to die as the smirking robo-thing reached for her.

Just before a sonic boom almost deafened her, and something slammed the monster back five blocks, and into the side of an already crumbling apartment house.

"Order your people back, detective," the man in primary colors told her as he now hovered before her, slowly settling to the ground as he watched the android wrench itself free, and rise once more. "This could be dangerous."

Maggie didn't point out the absurdity of that statement as the robotic humanoid finished dusting itself off, and turned to face them.

"Just stop that thing before it kills any more people," she told him. "We can discuss your legal standing later."

"An acceptable arrangement," he told her without looking back at the robotic creature surprised them all by speaking for the first time. Not just speaking. He laughed.

"About time the main event showed. I was starting to think you were all hype, S-Man," the android chortled as he moved directly toward Superman. "Or a coward."

"What is that," Maggie hissed.

"Order your people back," Superman reminded her, and stepped forward.

Even as the android declared, "Well, since you're here, I've brought you a little gift. I think you'll enjoy it. I know I will," he said, and raised a single hand.

The green energy blast slammed into Kal-El's chest, and blasted him down three blocks before he slammed into a building, feeling not unlike he had been hit by a nuclear blast.

He slowly rose, feeling the unnerving weakness he had known early on in his life, and realizing what it meant.

He eyed the creature before him, noted he couldn't see its inner workings within the torso, but that the rest of the android was completely mechanical as it stalked toward him, it's chest opening as two segmented plates parted to show the green crystalline power cell that obviously fueled the monster. Focusing his vision on the andorid's head, the only other part he had not investigated as it moved toward him, he put the pieces together.

"I see now," he said, rising into the air, staying beyond the reach of the green energies being radiated by the android walking toward him. "I thought you were a cyborg, but you're just a machine."

"I'll show you a machine," John Corbin sneered, and raised his oversized, left wrist to aim his way again.

Red fire flashed, and the wrist, and half the arm was melted into slag.

"That's cheating," the android shouted, his rage quite human behind the mechanically shrill voice.

"Hardly. I'm merely dismantling a defective machine," Kal-El replied, his eyes glowing red in the half light of dusk again as the smoke and dust from the battle kept most back, and unable to see what was going on.

Corbin howled as he landed on his back, his legs literally cut from beneath him even as his right arm was sheared away by the alien's powerful ocular lasers soon to be dubbed 'heat vision.' Then he found himself completely immobilized when his head jerked, and rolled away from his body.

Kal-El used a burst of speed, and flew down, snatched up the faux skull, and was out of range of the glowing particulates still exposed from the open chest-plate before the radiation could slow him down. He flew down the block, and landed in front of Maggie Sawyer, who was still having trouble believing that the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut had just been stopped in its tracks so easily.

Or so it appeared to her.

"I believe your answers are inside this device, Captain. Sawyer," he told her.

"Like I'll tell you clowns anything."

"There are things you should be very mindful of at this point, machine," Kal-El still called him. "Such as, disconnected from your primary housing, your on-board auxiliary systems have exactly two hours of life support left before the batteries die, and the organic tissue inside dies."

"Organic…..tissue," Dan Turpin sputtered, staring at the metallic skull now devoid of the faux flesh that had made Corbin seem human until the battle had torn away the façade.

"This is a machine. Inside, it's guided and operated by a few ounces of human brain that were apparently crafted to very complex technology. Technology only one or two men on the planet likely could have crafted."

"Are you saying….?"

"I am merely making a statement of fact," Kal-El told her.

"Hey, hey! What about me. You gotta get me put back together before I….."

"I'm an not finished with you, machine. You will supply answers here, or I will finish what I started, and crush your cerebral housing, and end your threat here and now."

"You can't do that," John shrieked through his computerized voice. "That's murder!"

"Your body is obviously already deceased considering the bulk of your brain is within this container. So, can it truly be considered murder to simply neutralize an unnaturally preserved brain?"

"I'm not even going to try to run that one through the courts," Maggie complained. "Just hand him over, and we'll get him hooked to a battery, or something…."

"No. Not until he talks. He has ninety-three minutes before his power fades. But more importantly, I can crush him completely," he said, "In the next few seconds if he does not explain this rampage immediately."

"Listen, Superman," Maggie swore, reaching vainly for her sidearm. "I know I called you out of necessity, but I cannot let you….."

"Ten seconds, machine," Kal-El said, his hands starting to compress as the sound of creaking metal filled the air.

"_Luthor_! Dr. Luthor did this! He wanted me to draw you out, and weaken you long enough for his teams to pick you up for the military! That's all I know. I swear," the panicked android babbled.

"I believe that constitutes a confession, detective," Kal-El told them, tossing the slightly crumpled metal head toward Dan Turpin, who caught it with an uneasy grimace as he stared down into those glowing eyes.

"What about my batteries," Corbin hissed.

"You're obviously not too bright," Kal-El told him, turning to train his heat vision on the open torso laying not too far away, melting the obvious lead-lined plating back over the crystalline minerals within. He then walked over, scooped up the torso in one hand, and rose from the ground as he looked back, saying, "Or you'd know your onboard cranial backups are solar-powered. Better hope it doesn't cloud up."

Then he was gone in the same instant.

"Detective," a voice shouted, and she turned to see a perennial pain headed her way. "Maggie," Lois shouted as the young redhead with her snapped photos of the android's head Dan had set on the hood of their squad. "Any comment on calling Superman back from his early retirement?"

Maggie scooped up the android's head, tossed it into the car, and climbed in behind the wheel.

"You coming," she demanded of Dan as Lois tried to get around the barricades to reach her.

She drove off before she could manage.

"So, what next," Dan asked, eyeing the weird, almost alien face of the robot head that seemed to glower for all its inexpressive mask.

"We're going to interrogate our perp," Maggie said coldly, eyeing the now silent head.

"I want my lawyer."

"Or a computer repairman," Dan suggested.

"You won't get a word out of me. I was under duress. I….."

"You will talk, or I will give you a choice."

"What choice, detective? Frankly, I don't think you can do anything to me as I…"

"Simple, metal-head," the grim woman spat. "Either you talk, or I'll put you in an evidence box, in a very dark room, and forget about you."

John made a very convincing growling sound.

"Or maybe we'll just give you back to that Superman. He seemed ready to put a few more dents in your chrome," Dan suggested.

Corbin was silent for all of five seconds.

Then he grumbled, "I'll talk."

"Thought you might," Dan smirked, glancing at his partner.

**MoS**

"A setback, but hardly unexpected. Corbin was only meant to truly gauge X-1's current abilities and strengths."

"I'd say he did a damn poor job of it," Sam Lane growled. "He didn't even slow the creature down."

"That is where you are wrong. The kryptonite, as I've dubbed it after reading that ridiculous cover story he handed out so conveniently, did its job as expected. The radiation is still a viable weapon against the alien. Still, it's a clumsy, and unreliable weapon considering his speed and agility are literally off the charts."

"When do you get to the point where you tell me your overdeveloped brain has a plan?"

"Of course I have a plan, General Lane," Lex smirked over the video-link. As I said, Corbin was bait. A test. Now that we know he can be baited, we send in the real weapon," he said, and turned to let the camera focus on a life-sized incubation tube just behind the bald scientist.

"What the hell is that?"

"Recall we did have X-1's DNA all this time. While we've yet to even partially map it, we were able to make some extrapolations, and I've created a weaponized clone I believe will not only match our wannabe hero, but bring him down."

"We can't even stop this one, and you made another of him," Sam roared.

"Don't worry, general," Lex smirked. "This creature can't even truly think. We allowed him very little cerebral development, and it left him with the mind of a three year old. A very loyal, and obedient three year old, since we've been programming him for _our_ needs all this time."

"Is that right," Sam Lane asked suspiciously.

"Unlike your men, General Lane, I think ahead. Too many powerful metas, and even more powerful aliens have been showing up of late. I knew we would need such a weapon in reserve even back then. Which is why X-2 was created in total secrecy, to prevent the usual bleeding hearts from stopping what they might unethical work on our part."

"Fine. But did you have to make him so…..bizarre," Sam complained as he eyed the chalky-white creature that looked more rough granite statue compared to X-1's chiseled physique.

"Aesthetics weren't my first priority," Lex told him. "And do recall, we were working with completely alien DNA that we've yet to fully analyze. X-2 is the best we could manage as yet. But I do have higher hopes for the X-3 prototype hybrid Cadmus is developing."

"I want to know everything this time, Lex. And I mean everything. Meanwhile, I expect X-1, and all his….counterparts to be fully contained by week's end. I'm coming down myself to oversee this operation."

Lex only smiled, then closed the link.

"You think he's going to make trouble."

"Lane is a blowhard, and just wants to look good in front of Congress. Once we have the situation contained, he'll go back to his press releases, and political games, and leave me to my work. First, however, we do need to prep X-2 to find and intercept X-1."

"How do we do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? First, we find everything we can on this…..Clark Kent. He's obviously in contact with the alien, and knows more than he should. I should very much like to pick his brain in that regard, at the least."

"And lure the alien after his friend?"

"You think they are friends," Lex frowned thoughtfully.

"I don't know. Seems Lane would be the better bait, though. He does still show up when she's in trouble," Mercy sneered.

"So he does," Lex murmured.

"So, what's the plan, Lex?"

"The plan? I think you need to go pick up a few things for me, Mercy," he said. "Bring me Kent, and Lane. Then we'll have X-1 right where we want him for certain."

The aide, and sometimes assassin, only smiled.

"I do owe her," Mercy said with a cruel gleam as she considered an earlier meeting with the tiresome woman that left her unconscious in an alley. Her!

"Just bring her to me in one piece. After all, we need live bait for this hunt, Mercy. We can always tie off the loose ends later."

Mercy only smiled, thinking of her own vindication.

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**6**

Lois grinned as she read the front page story with her name in the byline for a change of late.

For once, she had managed to trump Kent's bizarre luck at grabbing high profile stories from under her nose.

This time, not only did she get the story on Superman's dramatic win over that Metallo creature, as he was now being called, but she got the exclusive on the news that the mayor had chosen to deputize Superman as a special officer with the authority to step in during high risk emergencies to aid the citizens of Metropolis.

Not only that, the governor himself had stepped in soon after, extending the hero's authority to cover the state as a special marshal. They were still waiting to hear what the President's response, but the governor had already demanded the army back off, and stand down. The mayor had already strongly urged them to take their war games elsewhere, no one being fooled by their less than innocuous presence near the city limits.

It didn't help them that one of their exercises almost blew an airliner out of the sky, and only Superman's timely intervention saved over two hundred passengers from a fiery death.

In just twenty-four hours, Superman had gone from a suspect alien vigilante to a celebrated hero.

She couldn't help but grin at the headline as she eyed the paper spread out on her desk, the accompanying photo one of Jimmy's better efforts at capturing the hero in motion. He was pictured just before he flew off holding that mangled torso taken from Metallo, his cape dramatically waving behind him as he rose into the sky.

By contrast, Kent's exposé on Luthor, and his suspected ties to the underground Cadmus Labs only made it to page two. Still, word was that Dr. Luthor was holed up with his lawyers, fighting a string of warrants and wants that leveled a lot of very serious charges at him after his robo-buddy started blabbing. It seemed that John Corbin, a noted mercenary long before his dramatic transformation into an android, had done a lot of dirty work for Lex in the past. It was how he had earned the dubious honor of becoming his literal killing machine.

"Great story, Ms. Lane," Jimmy grinned as he eyed not the banner, but the photo.

"Thanks. Your pictures weren't too bad, either," she allowed.

"So, ah, have you seen Mr. Kent?"

"Not since this morning. He said he had an errand, or something to take care of," she huffed. "Honestly, I don't see how he ever gets any stories, because it seems he always running off just before….."

"Ms. Lane?"

She laughed, shaking her head.

"Never mind. Just having a stupid idea. A really stupid idea," she declared as she eyed Jimmy. "So, why do you need that treacherous snake for anyway?"

Jimmy sighed, then said, "He was going to show me some new techniques for zooming that would help improve my photos," he admitted.

"So, he's a photographer, too?"

Jimmy didn't miss the complaint in her voice.

"I guess he just knew…..some stuff," he shrugged.

"Funny, isn't it?"

"Ms. Lane?"

"I just mean, funny, how Kent seems to know so much about….everything," she murmured thoughtfully.

"Isn't what a reporter is supposed to do," Jimmy asked her.

Her expression suggested he should just drop it. He did.

**MoS**

"I still don't see anything," the voice murmured as eyes raked the consoles before him even as he looked past the cockpit out at the unrelenting icy landscape below.

"Well, something is up here. Or the boys back home wouldn't have us up here….. And, hello," he said, tapping something on his camera monitor.

The pilot looked down at his own digital console, the overlay of the ground far below him fed to his ship by orbiting satellites even higher up giving him a highly accurate view of the target.

"Nose cams confirm it, Base Ops," the co-pilot reported, turning from the live feed from the cams. "We have a definite anomaly below at the targeted coordinates. We now know where our alien has been nesting. And it looks like one _big_ nest."

"Dagger-Two, you are authorized to go hot. I say again, go hot," the grim voice on their radio advised. "Proceed to stage two of your mission now."

The two men in the bomber swallowed hard, and glanced at one another as the pilot radioed back.

"Dagger-Two is hot," he said, flipping a series of switches that lit up a hitherto dark side of his console before him as the big jet turned to circle the area that they had finally narrowed down thanks to the endless satellite hours tracking the trajectory of their target. "Please confirm stage two."

"Stage two is a go. Fire on your discretion."

"Just bomb the damn thing," another voice growled over their radios as someone in flight control obviously got itchy.

"Dagger-Two is confirming stage two. We are green and go, heading over target now."

"We've got no lock," the co-pilot hissed. "Something is interfering with target acquisition. We cannot lock. I say again, no lock."

"It doesn't matter," the flight coordinator told them. "Just deploy. Now."

"Dagger-Two is hot, and the package is away," the pilot snapped even as they felt the telltale shudder through their fuselage as something heavy departed their ship. They flew on, adding speed even as their ensured their electronic shielding was on, and operating at full strength. They were barely at the minimum safe distance when the entire aircraft was buffeted by the shockwave, and the dimly lit sky suddenly blossomed with blinding a glare that had them recoiling in spite of the fact they were not even facing the detonation.

"Dagger-Two report," someone demanded impatiently as the men fought to keep their aircraft up as they rode out the shock wave as one of the biggest bombs ever built exploded with raw, primal fury just a few miles behind them.

"Dagger-Two….confirms package delivery," the pilot said somberly.

"Dagger-Two, are you fully operational?"

"Affirmative, Base," the pilot reported grimly. "Those new shields worked just as advertised," he reported, his tone suggesting, 'For once.'

"Good," the gruff reply came. "We want you to do a flyover, and confirm target's destruction before we send in a clean-up crew."

"Dagger-Two is seeking target status," he reported, and the bomber banked hard, flew back around the location of the anomaly, the pilots taking in the devastation below as they eyed the scorched rock, and still smoldering craters. Then they saw it.

"Base Ops, this is Dagger-Two. We have no joy. I say again, _no_ joy."

"You're kidding," someone exploded over the radio. "We didn't even dent it?"

"That is a negative….. Hold on, radar says we have incoming. Something fast…..!"

The pilot looked up even as he realized a thunderous sonic boom had just rattled his ship like a toy in a hurricane. He fought the stick, leveled off, and then realized there was a figure hanging in the air before him.

The 'hero' hovered before him, his eyes blazing red, and then the ship shook again, and then literally fell in half as the two-man crew bailed from the bisected aircraft even as the alien simply stared at them as their chutes deployed, and they floated down towards a no-man's land.

Both men knew the area was going to be more than hot considering the fifteen megaton tactical nuke they had just deployed, but just then, they were more worried about the colorfully clad alien watching them float to the baked earth below.

They were still forty feet from the ground when the apparent hero moved again, and they were jerked violently to one side as they realized he had just grabbed their chutes, and flew them off so fast that the darkened landscape below them was abruptly all white once more.

He dropped them in the snow from just five feet in the air, dropping to land beside the two men as he eyed them with a grim expression.

"That," he finally spoke, "Was both uncalled for, and foolish. My home will defend itself it necessary. Just as I will. You both could have been killed."

"We….were following….orders," the co-pilot chattered, his insulated suit no match for the subzero temperatures around them.

"They were stupid orders, gentlemen. Next time, use your own minds. Now, go."

"Where," the pilot hissed, fearing they were going to be left to freeze out in the arctic wasteland where they had been departed.

The alien pointed behind them.

Both men turned, seeing the faint outline of buildings not far away, and the lights of a small town.

When they looked back, the alien was gone.

Jack Harding eyed his co-pilot, and asked, "I think I'm ready to retire, Spence. You?"

"After I change my shorts," the man replied with a rueful grimace as they turned and staggered through the thick snow toward the town.

**MoS**

"You're telling me a fifteen megaton bomb didn't even dent it?"

"Satellite scans have since confirmed the structure remains in place. Half the landscape was blasted down to bedrock," the Air Force junior officer told the generals, "But we didn't scratch whatever comprises that dome. Whatever it's made of, it's as tough as that ship of his was reported to be."

Samuel Lane swore.

"This is getting ridiculous. We kept a lid on alien incursions for over forty years, and now we have an overdeveloped alien we can't even touch setting up shop here?"

"I shudder to think what might be inside," a Marine general said, though his eyes suggested he might not mind finding out. Much of their more modern weaponry had come from reverse engineering some of the more comprehensible tech confiscated from illegal visitors to their world.

Illegal meaning any creature that so much as entered their atmosphere. In the military mindset, no visitor was friendly, and several had more than proven it before they were driven off, or more often, terminated.

"How long before X-2 is ready to deploy," someone finally asked General Lane.

"Dr. Luthor said it should be ready any time now."

"That's another thing. We are going to be hard-pressed to keep sheltering that brainiac with all the heat on him lately," a man in a tailored black suit spat. "He's made one mistake too many of late. After we have possession of the X projects, I want Luthor neutralized. Understand, General Lane."

"It's not as simple as that," Sam admitted.

"Make it simple."

"Gentlemen, I'd be the first to admit that Luthor is a dangerous megalomaniac with an uncharted intellect that matches his ego. Unfortunately, he is our megalomaniac, and we couldn't begin to run half the projects we do without him on point. Frankly, we wouldn't have Cadmus without him. We certainly wouldn't have X-2, or any of the new weaponry he's personally developed that kept us ahead in the arms race."

"I believe I gave you an order, Lane," the suit growled.

"Yes, sir, but I'm trying to make a point."

"Which is?"

"I've worked with Luthor since before we first intercepted X-1. I know the man. He conceived, built, and dispatched the Metallo project inside of two days just to test our boy. That said, what kind of precautions do you think he's got in place to protect himself if he's had years to anticipate our decision to…..cut him loose?"

The other two peers in uniform scowled as the suit merely murmured, "That….is a disturbing thought. Still, you have your orders. Carry them out."

"Yes, sir," the general nodded. "You don't mind if I update my will first, do you?"

No one laughed.

**MoS**

"Don't move," the voice hissed.

The scientist, a man that had felt quite honored to work with Dr. Lex Luthor, was feeling less than honored these days.

First, people started going missing.

Then all the bad press.

Now, 'Metallo' was still all over the media in spite of how easily that alien had stopped it.

Now, something was behind him that had his throat in a vise. A vise that could snap his neck like a twig the way those fingers moved to clamp down on his flesh.

He didn't even try to turn around.

He already knew what would be there if he did.

"What is this place? What's going on here," the X-3 clone demanded.

"You…. You're just confused. You shouldn't be up yet," he babbled.

"Yeah, right. Because laying around while you boneheads shove crap in my head just makes so much more sense," the yet immature clone growled.

Richard Harris cringed, but did not relent.

"I'm serious. We're….helping you. Perfecting you. If you'll only just….."

He groaned as those fingers tightened just enough to make his neck audibly protest.

"Answers, fruit loop. Or I move to the next loser. Your choice."

"All right. All right. What, eh, exactly, do you remember?"

The clone faltered now, and Richard pounced.

"You can't, can you? Remember? It's because you're not finished. Not ready. You are going to be the greatest scientific miracle of our age. And you're going to be Mankind's savior. But you have to trust us, we…."

"I don't remember everything, but I know funny dudes in bad lab coats are bad news," the clone hissed, and shook him like a puppy in his hand. "Just spill. What did you geeks do to me?"

"We made you," a voice behind them both spoke as the clone turned, turning Richard with him, and the scientist gave a faint sigh of relief when he spotted one of their first clones, and the chief of security in his blue and gold uniform.

"Guardian, tell this…..clone to stand down."

"Still playing God, Dr. Harris. Connor," the masked security chief called the clone. "You are a clone, but you're a person, too. Let's not mar your new incarnation with murder right off the bat. Put the man down, and we'll talk. You have my word, no one will try anything."

The tall, lean youth that looked no more than sixteen eyed the man in his hand, shrugged, and tossed him aside.

Richard hit the wall face first, after shattering half the vials and beakers on a nearby table he crashed into as he was flung over it. He did not get back up.

"You're obviously stronger than you realize," Guardian told him. "You'll need to learn to gauge your strength if you don't want to inadvertently hurt someone."

"Maybe I already know my own strength? Guardian, is it? What's with the long underwear," he snorted.

"It beats a hospital gown," the masked man drawled in turn. "And the name is Jim. Jim Harper. My….donor was a cop, and a hero, back in the day. I was reborn here so I could keep doing good work for those that needed a helping hand."

"Somehow, I don't see hiding out in weird labs as doing much good, Jimmy," the teen drawled as he scowled down at the gown he wore.

"I woke you up before they could finish turning you into the perfect little puppet. How's that for a good deed," Guardian asked him.

"You….? What's your angle," the teen demanded.

"Look, you need to know a few things that likely haven't been put into your programming."

"Like the alien daddy bit? I got that much."

"Well, Superman, as they call him, is shaping up to be a hero that might just help save our world. Only some of the people behind Cadmus want to use you, and those like you, to bring him down before he even has a chance to prove himself. I don't like that kind of dealing. Just as I don't like turning innocent clones... Innocent people, into weapons. So I woke you up, and I'm giving you the chance to decide for yourself what you're going to be. Ball's in your court now, young man. The choice is yours."

"Why Connor?"

"Let's just say, your 'donor was named Connor."

"Thought he was named Superman?"

Guardian's lips quirked slightly.

"Your primary donor is that hero. Only Dr. Luthor learned early that pure alien DNA can't be managed. Learned that one the hard way. He managed to finally mesh human and alien DNA in a hybridization that created you. You are the first and only success we've had to date. I would prefer you didn't end up a helpless pawn under his heel."

"What happens when they learn you let me go," Connor asked.

"They won't. I have covered my bases. While I can't technically defy Dr. Luthor, I still have a lot of my own free will, which drives them crazy at times. That's why they were trying to program you like a robot. They're not much on independent thinkers around here."

"Why not just leave with me," Connor asked, looking around, and finally just taking Harris' lab coat for himself.

"That's one thing I can't do. Yet. Besides, I prefer to be here, in place to help anyone else that might need it when the chance comes."

"Okay. I get that. One more thing. Who was….the original Connor?"

"You won't find him. Dr. Luthor _eliminated_ him after his contribution to the project."

"Sounds like this Luthor is a real piece of work."

"You don't want to be around when he arrives," Guardian told him. "Now, I need you to knock me out before you go. Have to make it look good for the others," he smiled when Connor stared at him in confusion as he pulled on the lab coat.

"All right. You seem to have all the answers. What do you think I should do when I leave?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I would suggest you find Superman. Warn him X-2 is about to be released, and Cadmus, and Luthor is still after him. He might be able to help you in ways I can't. But that's all I can offer just now, Connor. That, and good luck."

"Swell," Connor huffed. "Because luck is something that just falls all over the place, is it?"

"It can," Guardian murmured, and cocked his head. "Backup is coming. Time to go, boy. Ready to play your part?"

"How do I get out of here?"

"The fastest way is out the door, right, and then hit the air shaft. From there, it's straight up, and you emerge in the mountains just outside of…"

"Metropolis. Weird, I know the geography, but I've never even see it."

"Here they come," Guardian told them, and now raised a shield he had slung over one shoulder. "Ready to play the part?"

Conner's lips pulled down, and he swung a hard fist at the blue and gold man, hitting the shield dead center. The virtually indestructible shield vibrated loudly, even as it, and the man holding it, went flying back into the hall, bounced off the far wall, and fell to the ground.

Then Connor was moving, his feet all but flying as he lunged past the first guards, ignoring the hail of bullets fired by uneasy men already used to monsters in these halls, and then raced for the end of the hall that appeared to be a dead end.

Until he saw the ventilation panel high in the wall, and leapt up, smashing into and through it, and kept going as he found himself flying upwards so fast he smashed into the end of the duct, and then out into fresh, if smoggy air that wasn't recycled for containment.

He rose higher into the air, staring out over a rocky vista to a sprawling city beyond, and grinned.

"Now this is more like it," he howled, and arched his flight toward the city.

_Continued…. _


	7. Chapter 7

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**7**

"Say, Ms. Lane, did you hear about that report of a flying boy buzzing the city last night," Jimmy asked with a grin.

"I've heard stranger things," Lois drawled. "That's not my concern right now. Finding Superman for a quote before Kent can scoop me again is," she added, looking up as she walked along the sidewalks, trying to figure out what might lure him back out without a genuine emergency of the sort he had been recently deputized to manage.

Word was, Maggie wasn't all that happy about a 'vigilante' in her city, but she was accepting that the now colorfully clad hero was able to save a lot of lives when her own men couldn't do the job.

She had the feeling that was what grated that tough-as-nails detective that had pretty much shoved her sexuality into the face of those that first felt a lesbian police captain couldn't handle the job of leading the Special Crimes Unit.

She really would have to try to get her whole story in ink someday. If the woman ever quit ducking the press.

"The Daily Star said he was streaking, so to speak. Say….? What do you call it if you're flying naked? Is that still streaking?"

"Jimmy, give it a rest," she complained, glancing back at her recent shadow. Bad enough Kent had to be assigned to her beat, now she had a wet-behind-the-ears photographer who didn't know how to shut up following her every time she took a step.

"Hey," someone stepped up behind them just as they passed a diner. "I think you dropped something, lady," a man told her.

Lois turned even as the taser was shoved into her chest. She never felt the rough hands pulling her into the alley before she could drop. Never saw the man that dropped Jimmy in the same instant. She was already out cold.

**MoS**

"General Lane," Lex drawled unpleasantly as he stepped out of the lab where the bulky, chalk-colored clone now lay on a large table, clad in a grayish facsimile of the alien hero's distinctive costume. A costume chosen potently by Lex who intended to make it appear the alien was doing his own experiments that might just…..go out of control before a more heroic Lex could intercede.

"Tell me I'm hearing things," Sam Lane demanded without preamble.

"That would be difficult to say until I know what's upset you this time," he told the man who had chosen to appear in person this time.

"Don't play coy with me, Dr. Luthor. I have already heard that X-3 broke out of containment last night. Now what the devil is going on around here?"

"It was simply an equipment failure. Some idiot forgot to compensate for a power surge earlier, and it apparently prematurely shocked the immature clone out of his hibernation. Rest assured, we are already moving to reacquire him."

"You haven't even reacquired X-1, and you think you can bring him back in without…..?"

"He'll be back. Once he realizes his best interests lie with us, he'll be back on his own. I'm certain of that. Recall, he's an immature clone, without guidance, or direction. Like any other wayward youth, he'll soon return to us for answers, at the least, and I'm confident we can reclaim him without issue at that time."

"You'd better hope so," he spat. "And what about X-1? I've been putting off our backers for over a week while keeping you out of jail, and so far all I've got to show for it is yet another fiasco."

"Eggs and omelets," he told General Lane with a somber smirk, though his eyes were cold and hostile to the intruder into what he felt was his arena. "Trust me, I have everything under control. In fact, we're just about to finish setting the bait to lure out our wannabe hero. With X-2 primed to contain him, we'll be will be able to finally pierce the alien's true secrets once and for all."

"You'd better hope so. If this one falls apart, Lex, not even I will be able to keep you out of federal prison."

"Please. Every great plan suffers some wrinkles. But I will succeed. Don't I always," he added blandly as Mercy walked into the lab just then, eyed the general, and then simply nodded.

"Lex….."

"I have to go now, General Lane. If you will excuse me, we're reaching a critical timing in our plans."

"Just keep me in the loop. I want to be there when you bring in X-1."

"As you say," Lex nodded as he let Harper take the man out again.

"You have her?"

"Her, and that pet photographer following her of late. We couldn't leave him behind for fear he might bring unwanted attention."

"Smart. And Kent?"

"He's still MIA. That man is harder to pin down than one of Intergang's hit men."

"Well, I don't have any time for any distractions. As we've found nothing in his background of importance, eliminate him. I will not have another successor to Lane causing me grief in my city."

"Then Lane isn't going to survive this one?"

"What do you think, Mercy," Lex smiled coldly. "In fact, I think the general may have outlived his usefulness, too. Frankly, with the power we can harness from the X-Project, we won't need him, or MRD any longer after this. I foresee taking LexCorp in whole new directions once we get into that alien fortress. I do believe we'll soon be looking at global domination of all markets. Maybe….just global domination," he smiled. "Yes, I like that. Global domination."

Mercy said nothing about his dreams. She shared quite a few of them herself.

**MoS**

"So, you're supposed to be the big guy?"

"And you're from Cadmus."

"In a roundabout way. I'm supposed to be your replacement. At least, that's what the brains back in that horror show I blazed from thought. Only I didn't stick around for the indoctrination part of the program," Connor declared as he sat on a mountaintop high in the Rockies with Kal-El himself standing before him.

He had barely buzzed Metropolis twice before the red and blue had been on top of him, and suggested they talk.

Kal-El absorbed all Connor told him, especially about another possible clone that might already be about to be be unleashed on him. One that was already programmed to obey only the docs that had created it.

"I got the feeling they are all focused on bringing you down, Supes," Connor told him, tugging at the leather jacket he now wore over a tee and jeans that the big guy had brought him after declaring he required more suitable garb even if he didn't really feel the chill.

Connor had not argued. It was pretty hard to be cool in the way that counted wearing a borrowed lab rat's coat.

Kal-El finally gave him the biggest surprise of all, though, when he made a suggestion Connor never expected.

"How would you like to see my place? I believe it might help you, and I need to pick up something there anyway that I suspect I might be needing. It should be ready by now."

"Your place? Is going to help me?"

"My father sent a special….tutorial along in my ship. I think it might aid you, too, if you want to try it. At the least, it will help you understand your place in this world a little better by understanding where we came from in the first place."

Connor shrugged.

"Long as you don't expect me to jump through hoops like those loopy docs, I'm in," he grinned.

"Follow me," he told him. "The atmospheric scrubbers should have filtered the radiation out of the area by now, so you should be fine if you have even a degree of my invulnerability."

"Radiation," Connor frowned just before Superman vanished in a blur of motion and color.

"Oh, it's a race," he grinned, and flung himself into the air after his apparent parent, genetically speaking.

**MoS**

"You're back early," Lex told Mercy disapprovingly as he turned from his work.

"Don't worry. Wherever Kent is, he'll be coming home to a very lethal surprise. One that will ensure no one else gets any ideas about aiming attention our way ever again," she smiled.

"Fine. Lane, and her companion are still out. I was just about to wake up X-2 now that his final programming is complete."

"You sure he won't turn on us like that kiddie clone?"

"Hardly. I fine-tuned the obedience program myself. He's going to be a bit simple, but he'll be completely tractable, and obey only me."

"Convenient," Mercy grinned.

"Simple efficiency. Why trust someone else to give the commands when I can manage the creature directly, and prevent any chance of betrayal?"

Mercy made a sound of understanding, but as she watched chalky lids flutter open, she wondered if the creature might even replace her if Lex decided it was more effective than her in handling his enemies. She frowned at that thought.

Surely not?

"So, how do we lure in the alien," she said, not voicing her doubts.

After all, if there was one thing she knew about her employer, it was that he was quick to exploit weakness if it was shown. Which was why Mercy had always made sure not to show the slightest weakness. The slightest hesitation.

You did not survive around Lex Luthor by being either squeamish, or hesitant. She had survived far longer than any of his other aides. She intended to survive long enough to retire.

One way, or the other.

Lex, unaware of how her mind was working, merely smiled.

"The usual way. With a baited trap. Which is why Lane, and her hapless companion are going to become a part of the plan. A shame about Kent, but I suppose any dilemmas he represents will soon die with him," he remarked, having complete faith in his aide's abilities.

"Count on it," she told him all the same.

**MoS**

It was well after midnight before he got back to Metropolis.

He had seen Connor settled into the Fortress, as it was deemed by now, and showed him how to operate the tutorials, and gave him access to all but the most critical functions of his sanctuary. He even allowed him to command several of the robotic drones to attend him should he require anything while Kal was away. He then headed back for Metropolis, knowing Clark Kent needed to show up if he was to maintain his civilian cover.

Since it was late, Kal-El chose to change to Clark, and headed for his apartment rented in his civilian guise's name. He might have messages he needed to tend, as he kept a phone there just for potential contacts to call.

Walking up to the door after he took a shortcut by jumping up to the fourth floor, and walking in the fire door, he closed the door behind him, and then headed down the hall to his apartment door.

It said something to the degree he was still distracted by Connor, and everything else going on that he didn't notice anything until he pushed the door open, and the telltale click of something pulling free behind the lock belatedly alerted him just barely a single second before the door exploded in his face.

_Continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**8**

"Who lives here," Dan asked. "Or rather, who lived here," the stocky detective asked as he walked into the chaos as forensics went through the apartment that was little more than blackened support posts, and shattered walls now.

Even the furniture was pretty much smoldering ash by now, proving whatever had exploded, it had been powerful.

"Guy named Kent," one of the uniforms told him. "Super said he just moved in. Quiet guy. Kept to himself."

"Not enough," Maggie drawled. "Kent. He was the Planet's new reporter. Right?"

"Bingo," Dan pointed a finger her way. "Knew I heard the name. Think Lane did in him," he teased.

"Lane's more bark than bite," Maggie growled. "Whoever did this was a pro. Which means Kent was ruffling some very serious feathers if they went this far. Any collateral damage," the head of SCU asked as she eyed the walls around the ruined apartment.

"We got lucky. No one was home. Except for the poor mook that opened that door," he said, glancing to the coroner just about to depart with the covered body.

"Kent?"

"Well, he had glasses, and a charred press pass, but that's the only ID we'll get off this body," the coroner told her. "Whatever went off, pretty much vaporized the flesh, and left a lot of shattered bone and gory tissue," he added as Maggie lifted one corner of the sheet, and clenched her jaw as she stared at the raw, ravaged thing that had once been human.

"Hell of a way to go," Dan grimaced.

"Is there a good way," Maggie demanded with a grim scowl as she eyed the wreckage after turning away from the body. "Anything left that might tell us what he was working on?"

"We could ask Lane," Dan suggested.

Maggie's expression suggested he find a short pier for a long walk.

"I guess we'll have to see someone. I'll go talk to the editor."

"Perry White?"

"You know him."

"Heard Lane talk about him. Nothing flattering," Dan admitted as Maggie walked to the gaping hole that had been a window, and fixed her eyes on the colorful figure moving through the sky toward them.

"You're late," Maggie told him as the powerful Kryptonian slowed to hover just before them outside the shattered windows.

"It's a big world even for me," he told her grimly. "This is Clark Kent's residence, isn't it? Was he home?"

"Not anymore," Dan drawled insolently.

Blue eyes flashed as he glanced toward the gruff man, and then looked back to Maggie.

"I can guess you're wondering if what he was working on might have led to his death. I think it did."

"Anything you want to say? On the record," Dan asked bluntly.

"Dr. Luthor," Kal-El remarked with a nod. "He was helping me research Lex-Corp's illicit meta-human experiments at Cadmus on behalf of your American military."

"That's….a pretty sweeping statement. And a damning one," Maggie told him.

"I see, and hear far more than you can, detective. As you say, proving matters to your judicial and legal satisfaction is another matter. Mr. Kent was aiding me in doing so. He was getting very close to hard evidence. He suggested he might have found the evidence we needed when I called him earlier. I was to meet him at the Planet in the morning to collaborate when I heard the explosion."

"Couldn't get here sooner?"

"I was in Germany at the time," Kal-El told Dan Turpin smoothly, setting his own distance from the now late Clark Kent.

"You have any idea what that evidence might have been," Maggie asked.

"I have some of it at…..my place. What would have implicated Dr. Luthor directly, however…. Only Clark Kent could say," he added pointedly with a sweeping glance at the ruined apartment.

It had been a close thing when the bomb literally went off in his face. Ironically, he had been worrying about Clark's human façade being attacked, and had been considering fail-safe's when the bomb had exploded. It had been the work of seconds to find a suitable body not likely to be in any DNA database, dress it in Clark's now scorched rags, which weren't much, and plant the identification to mark him. He had then flown off to access a computer that ensured what DNA was taken would coincide with the dead 'Clark's' if or when checked, and then waited for the authorities to arrive.

He had no doubt Luthor was behind the assassination attempt, which proved he didn't know Clark's true identity, or he would have known not to bother trying such ordinary means.

Still, that left him without a viable human mask to interact without suspicion. He would have to work on that later. For now, he had other concerns. What he had said about Luthor wasn't fabricated. He had been researching the man, and getting close, when his female operative had obviously arranged for his demise. If he had not been so distracted, he would have spotted the bomb in time to diffuse it. Unfortunately, after his evening with Connor, his mind was on other things, and he had not noticed the death trap until he literally walked right into it.

C'est la vie, as the humans said.

He resisted the urge to smirk as he mused that Lois Lane wouldn't be worrying over Clark's scooping her any longer. Then he had another thought.

If Lex Luthor was now overtly moving against his enemies…?

"Have you heard from Ms. Lane? I believe she was working on another angle of the investigation with Clark," he asked Maggie as he turned, focusing his super-senses on the woman's apartment, her office, and her known haunts in swift tandem.

"You tell me," she said, guessing what he was doing.

"I found her," he said grimly, and vanished in a blur of speed before the detective could question him.

"Where's he going?"

"I don't know," Maggie growled, heading for the door. "But tell everyone to head to the east end. If our flyboy is headed that way that fast, something big must be up."

"Captain," a uniform met them at the elevator even as she and Dan both reached for radios. "We just got a call. Something…..big is on the City Bridge demanding the alien appear or he…. He's got hostages dangling from the bridge, he's threatening to drop."

"Lane?"

"And some kid," the uniform nodded.

"Call Tactical, and get everything we have headed that way. If what I'm thinking is right, this could be a disaster in the making," she swore as Dan only frowned.

"What do you mean, Mags," Dan asked as they stepped into the elevator, stabbing a button, and found they had to wait to call in themselves since they had no reception in the descending car.

"Think about it. If Luthor is involved in meta-human experiments, and Metallo was one of his first, then what else has he got out there ready to toss at us? If I'm right, whatever that something big is out there, it might be something at least on a par with Superman," she spat uneasily. "Which translates into more collateral damage if this leads to a real fight."

"Crap," Dan hissed, recalling how easily that walking tin can had trashed SCU when he showed. If the bald control-freak had something even bigger…..?

"Let's hope Supes can hold his own," he grimaced as he eyed the slow moving car's digital indicator, and willed it to move faster.

"Let's hope," Maggie found herself agreeing.

**MoS**

"Superman," Lois cried in relief when the rush of wind announced his arrival even before her eyes fixed on the swirl of a cape that settled around broad shoulders.

"Me am not him," the chalky behemoth in a caricaturized version of Superman's new costume growled as Lois looked up from where she sat in what seemed a broom closet he had just ripped the door off to enter.

"No kidding," she gasped, staring up at him as big, chalky-white hands reached for her.

"Me am Superman's biggest fan," the monster grinned. "Me will take you to him, and destroy him good."

"What," she hissed as she was lifted like an old rug, and tossed over one broad shoulder still bound hand and foot.

She barely had time to scream before they stopped again, and he was tossing Jimmy over his other shoulder, the redhead looking uneasy as he turned his head to just stare at her. His black eye suggested his stay had not been as peaceful as hers.

"They broke my camera," he muttered sourly, as if that was all that mattered to him just then.

"Somehow, I get the feeling we're next," Lois told him even as the big imposter moved again, and they were suddenly flying out over the city, and toward the bay.

She had an uneasy feeling he might just drop them in the water, consigning her to a fate she had thought she had escaped. Only he kept going, and then he was hovering over the tallest support strut of the bridge that spanned the wide harbor as he made short work of just hanging them from the support cable by simply snapping a few guide wires and threading them through their bonds holding their ankles together.

"You know, Ms. Lane, I've got a really bad feeling about this," a slightly greenish Jimmy moaned as he tried not to look down.

Or anywhere else at all as the big monster turned to look down at traffic, and then boomed in a voice like thunder, "Bring me Superman, or his friends get hurt good!"

"Hurt good? Oh, brother, who taught this guy how to speak," Lois muttered.

The white behemoth turned to glare at her, his opaque eyes glittering crimson as he growled, "Me is good talker. You shut up now, or you fall down."

"I think I'd listen," Jimmy whimpered, unable to help looking down again as he turned a faintly darker shade of green.

Just before Lois could answer, the sound of a sonic boom filled the air overhead, and just that quick, a new caped figure was hovering before the trio.

"You are X-2," Superman asked him after a frown as he looked at the creature. Looking even deeper than anyone supposed as his cerulean eyes narrowed, focused, and looked into the startlingly familiar cells that he could see were still going through an obviously devastating mutation before his eyes.

He realized whoever had been working on his DNA had obviously not been as good as they thought. This creature was self-destructing by the second, but didn't seem to realize the danger he was in even as he lifted huge fists, and smiled at him.

"Me am not X-2. Me am Bizarro," he stated proudly. "Me am your biggest fan," he declared, before smashing an unexpectedly hard and fast right into Superman's jaw.

To Lois and Jimmy's shock, the more colorfully clad hero went flying into the bay hard enough to raise a small wave that flooded the nearby docks.

Then, just as quickly, Superman was launching himself back out of the water, and smashed into the self-named Bizarro's midsection hard enough to fold the massive creature in half, and drive him across four miles of open sky before they slammed into a mountain just outside the city.

Even as the reporters dangled over a fatal height, Lois complained, "We're missing everything," as the sounds of thunderous blows, and almost feral howls of rage and indignation floated back to them.

"Never mind them," Jimmy wailed. "What about us," he demanded as the wails of sirens only then began to reach their ears.

"We'll be fine," Lois declared, and only then looked down. "I hope."

"You hope," Jimmy whimpered, and finally lost what little lunch he head eaten the day before they had been abducted.

**MoS**

Kal-El stood over the cringing, white doppelganger that lay on the ground before him, staring up at him in confusion.

"Me….lost? Why me lost? Me am strongest there is. Father said so."

"Your…..father lied, brother. Bizarro. You have….an illness. It is killing you."

"Bizarro sick," the creature frowned, cocking his head as if even more confused. "Me don't feel sick. Me feel very fine."

Kal-El had already realized from what little he did say that the creature twisted and reversed everything he said. His mind, obviously, had been severely injured, or likely tampered with by those scientists.

He recalled the horrors of Krypton's own wars over clones and their rights, and saw before him a potent reminder of the abuses of power.

"You are sick. I can help you, though. I can make you better. If you will trust me," he told him, and held out a bruised hand already healing under the yellow sun's empowering rays.

Around them, the mountainside had been reduced into gravel in places, and great holes now gouged out he once impenetrable rock. He had other considerations, though. Kryptonian life-appreciation aside, this was literally his brother. His very twin, after a fashion.

The idea that Lex Luthor, or those men at Cadmus were playing God with his cells infuriated him. He would see to that later. First, he had to hope he really could help this poor creature.

"Father say not trust you. Me am biggest fan. Me am to destroy you. But me feeling too good to fight," the simulacrum protested as he ignored the hand, rose on trembling limbs, and then promptly fell flat on his face.

He didn't move again.

Kal-El knelt beside him, found his pulse, which was weak and thready, and frowned darkly. He glanced behind him, saw emergency workers were already lowering the hapless reporters, and could just imagine Lois' ire at being rescued so.

She imagined she was likely thinking Clark Kent was off scooping her, too, but she didn't have that worry any longer.

That reminder of how far Lex was willing to go for his own ambitions made him all the angrier. He scooped up the limp creature, and flew north without hesitation.

Dr. Luthor was going to regret ever tampering with his genes. The law wasn't made Luthor apparently couldn't twist, or break, but Kal-El wasn't thinking about human laws just then.

He remembered a life filled with pain and misery, and he was thinking only of vindication just then. Of true justice.

First, however, he had to save his brother.

**MoS**

"Inconceivable," Lex swore as he banged both fists on his desk as he watched the television footage that didn't catch all of the battle, but caught the abrupt departure of the Kryptonian carrying off his pet enforcer like a broken toy.

"Dr. Luthor," a familiar growl sounded as a burly man shoved into the office despite Mercy's attempt to keep him back. "We need to talk," General Sam Lane demanded as he looked at him with cold, angry eyes.

"I have a failsafe," Lex told him. "Don't worry. We'll bring down that….."

"And my daughter? When were you going to get around to telling me you put her in harm's way? When were you going to tell me you intended to kill her, too?"

"If you could handle that….willful bitch, I wouldn't have to do anything," Lex barked back, his temper roused just then.

"You're suspended. Pending a full investigation. Frankly, after these fiascos of late, I'm starting to wonder if you are the right man to trust with this kind of operation."

"Trust? Trust," Lex hissed. "I'm the _only_ man on the planet with the brains to…..!"

"I think you're done, mister," Sam Lane told him, and stood aside to nod at two very large men in Marine uniforms. "Take him to holding. He's not to have so much as a cell phone. Keep him until I personally say otherwise."

Mercy shot her employer a look, but Lex only smirked.

"You honestly think you can take me out of the heart of my own facility?"

"Cadmus is not your personal workshop, Lex," the general shot back. "You are going to find….."

All five shared an uneasy look as the entire facility seemed to shake, and a near deafening vibration echoed through the very walls.

"Someone's back," Mercy articulated for them her own dark eyes were bright with worry.

"And I think we can safely say he's pissed," Sam agreed, reaching for one of the soldier's radios. "This is Lane. All personnel, stand down. Do not engage the alien. I say again, do not…."

Lex stabbed an alarm that would send every man with a weapon after the attacker. He smirked as the klaxxons drowned out the general as Lex used the diversion to hit another button in rapid tandem that dropped his chair down into a hatch that opened beneath him, and then he was gone.

"That….two-timing…..weasel," Mercy hissed, realizing she had just been left behind.

"Take her," Sam shouted at the men over the wail of the alarm. "I've got to try to stop this before that so-called hero slaughters everyone down here!"

"Wait," Mercy shouted. "I know where he's going. I can show you….."

"I'm supposed to trust you," Sam Lane demanded curtly.

"That bastard crossed me," the assassin swore. "No one crosses Mercy Graves. Not even the great Luthor!"

"Take them. You find Luthor," Samuel told them. "Shoot to kill if need be," he ordered them. "We can't take the chance he won't unleash everything in Cadmus out of spite."

The men's eyes rounded. Even they knew there were some real monsters in these labs.

"This way," Mercy shouted, and led the soldiers not to the door, but to an apparent closet. Sam shook his head as they disappeared through a hidden passage, and then ran toward the security outpost, hoping to override the alarm, and regain control before someone did something stupid.

**MoS**

"I'm sorry," a man in blue and gold stood before Kal-El after he tore through the last security door between him and the lead-lined chamber he had chosen by process of elimination.

That, and it was the most heavily protected chamber in the entire complex. It stood to reason that any remaining DNA he had yet to find had to be inside.

"You can't stop me," Kal-El told him. "And I will not allow Cadmus to continue toying with my DNA, or with innocent lives."

Guardian nodded.

"And if I told you there isn't any of your DNA left in there?"

"I prefer to see for myself."

"I have my duty," Jim Harper's jaw rose as he lifted his shield.

"You're the one that helped Connor," Kal-El surprised him by saying as he took a single step forward.

"Connor? You found him? Is he….?'

"He's fine. So is….Bizarro. Or, at least, as fine as he can be. I'm still hoping I can undo the damage to his mind, but….."

"X-2? You beat X-2?"

"His cells were deficient. They couldn't handle the energy levels required to keep him powered up at my levels."

"I warned them about playing with things they can't comprehend, or control."

"Then why don't you help me stop them?

"This is still my home," he told Kal-El. "I have a duty to defend it. And my friends."

"Friends? You call these madmen…..?"

"Not them," Jim told him. "The others. Those experimented on, and left to rot by those scientists who saw no use in them for….whatever reason. They can't leave. There is no place in this world for some of them. That, and the military would be sure to hunt them down, and kill them if they did escape."

"The way they hunt me," Kal-El asked. "Or you?"

"My case is…..different."

"Care to explain," Kal-El asked. "I do favor reason over violence," he pointed out.

"Then you are an exception. As to myself, I died over forty years ago. I was a cop in Suicide Slums. One that tried to make a difference. I decided to play hero when corruption made my job impossible, and I died saving lives. I had no regrets about it, either. Only I woke up here. With a new job, and new friends to protect."

"Like Connor?"

"I knew they couldn't hold the kid. He was showing all the signs of rejecting their programming, and when that happens, they always kill the subject. Always."

"They didn't kill you?"

"I was one of their early successes. They didn't know I kept my free will. Not at first. Now, I'm just useful enough to keep my place here."

Kal-El smiled thinly.

"And help wherever you can?"

"Exactly. Will you trust me that there isn't anything inside for you?"

"I have to see. You understand."

It wasn't a question.

"Then…. I'm asking you, as a friend. Don't overreact. The Vault is where they keep….less than successful experiments."

"I'm not here to judge the unfortunates damned by your masters," Kal-El told him. "I'm here to ensure they do not toy with my genetics any longer before they unleash a true plague on their own world. Which, by happenstance, is mine as well now."

Jim nodded, and stepped aside.

"I'd offer to open the door, but since Connor….somehow escaped, all high security codes were changed, and even I don't have them. Yet."

Kal-El only smiled, walked over to the keypad, and punched a powerful fist right through the mechanism, opened his hand, and then grabbed all the nearby wires, and ripped them out with ease. Even as he tossed the debris away after withdrawing his hand, a faint chirping sounded, and a light over the door blinked green as locks inside the heavy, steel panel released.

Not that it mattered. He already knew he could have pulled the door open with ease. He simply didn't want to trigger any fail-safe's that might have endangered those inside.

Pulling open the door, Kal-El ignored the wailing klaxons around him, and stepped inside. Freezing after just one step.

Kal-El stared into the huge chamber as his eyes rounded, and found himself stunned beyond belief.

"Great….Rao," he exclaimed, unable to express his genuine astonishment at the sight before him.

_Continued…_


	9. Chapter 9

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**9**

"Move, you morons," General Sam Lane thundered as he strode down the hall with a gaping hole in titanium-reinforced steel.

Behind him came a squad of his personal best, just in case.

Sam had not gotten where he was, and survived real combat by trusting self-important martinets like Lex Luthor. He had not come into this vipers' nest without his own backup, and more waiting. He was not that stupid.

Luthor, on the other hand, was.

X-2 and X-3 gone, both failures. X-1 led right to their door, and who knows what was in that self-styled hero's head after he had faced down X-2. Faced him down, and spanked him like a raw recruit.

Damn, and he already knew their best metas didn't have a chance of facing the creature. He still wasn't buying the altruism. Then again, nothing about the creature made sense. He had faced aliens before now. He knew some came right at your, claws, or whatever ready to maim and kill. Some tried to play sly games. Some played at being helpful, but wanted to order you about on your own world. In your own nation.

Well, whatever game this alien was playing, he wasn't buying it. And sooner or later, he would find a way to stop him. Permanently.

Until then, he had to ensure that Cadmus wasn't completely compromised.

Damn Luthor anyway.

"Where," he barked as soon as he saw a security uniform that looked to have enough rank to know what was going on.

"Straight for the labs," the man nursing an obviously broken arm as a medic tended him pointed with his good arm. "He went right for the labs. Like he knew exactly where everything was before he got here," the man complained.

Sam shook his head.

It was obvious the alien could see better than advertised. X-ray vision, indeed. Which implied his other senses were just as sensitive.

Which still made him wonder about the mind guiding the body.

"Follow me," he barked, his secret weapon a somber weight in his right pocket, ruining his uniform's crease.

"Sir," one of the grunts with him asked. "If he can do….all this," he asked, taking in the destruction left in the wake of the alleged hero. "How do we stop him?"

"We can't. But I'm hoping to at least slow him down before he turns loose something on the public we don't want out," Sam admitted.

"How," another of his men asked.

He frowned, finding it telling that his men even bothered to question him at a time like this. Then again, he knew all about fear after his own combat experiences. Some of them with forces not of this world.

"That's my problem. Yours is to protect my back from our host while I deal with that problem."

"You mean Dr. Luthor? But isn't he….?"

"He's a back-stabbing snake that would try to slit your throat while picking your pocket, and telling you how happy he was to see you," Sam growled. "Now, keep your eyes open. His handpicked thugs are just as bad."

He couldn't help but grimace as he followed the swath of destruction that did, indeed, lead invariably through the most sensitive labs in Cadmus. Years of research had been destroyed in seconds from the look of it, and yet so far he had seen only minor injuries. Most of them caused by personnel simply fleeing the alien, or being caught by flying debris as the creature slammed through walls, doors, or anything else in his way.

If only that power could have been harnessed. Channeled. Only the alien was obviously uncontrollable, and a genuine threat. His power levels seemed to have grown exponentially over the years if he had been able to take out both Metallo, with his meteorite-powered frame, and X-2. He didn't want to think of what might happen if the alien proved genuinely unstoppable.

He turned a corridor, and stared down the hall into an area he knew all too well.

"Damn," he rasped, staring at the open vault door where the worst failures of Cadmus' sometimes too creative brains were housed.

Some, he felt, should have been put down on conception. Or even realization. Only the science geeks here felt there was something to be learned even from the genuine freaks they had inadvertently created in their rush to map and manipulate the human genome. Or even those not-so-human genomes they occasionally obtained.

Moving carefully toward the door, he didn't see any sign of the caped hero, or the area security.

Then he peered inside.

**MoS**

Connor, or Superboy as he now fashioned himself, stood staring at the massive, white creature that looked more like a caricature of life than any real being.

He didn't want to be a true copy, though, so he had the robots make him a wardrobe more suited to his own tastes. Where those tastes actually came from, he wasn't sure, but he felt pretty stylish just then wearing sturdy jeans, boots, and leather jacket with the El crest on the back over a plain blue tee.

It certainly beat the bargain basement rip-off of Supes' costume this guy wore. It unnerved the young teen that he could have easily ended up like that poor thing, or worse. If it hadn't been for Harper, it would have definitely been worse. It still grated that those men were back there playing with life like it was some kind of toy.

He would have rather joined Kal-El when he went back to ensure there were no more Kryptonian puppets made of his….their DNA, but he did see the value in learning all he could from the astonishingly thorough archives that Jor-El had sent along with his son. He had already absorbed maybe twenty percent of them, but his mind just didn't work as well as his 'brother's' did. Some of that stuff he had to really work to absorb, if he could comprehend it at all.

He had chosen to take a break from his latest lesson when Kal had zoomed in, left the clone in the care of his medical-bots after he explained what had happened, and then went back for a little payback.

He was still wondering how well the clone could be repaired, or if it could, when the white lids suddenly flared open, and those eerily opaque orbs fixed on him.

"You am not Superman," he growled.

"I'm Connor. Your younger brother," he told him frankly.

"Me have brother?"

"You have two brothers. Superman is our….older brother."

"Me am not knowing this," he said, sounding more than confused.

"Hey, bot," Connor spoke to the nearby hovering machine. "I thought you guys were going to fix his brain so he wouldn't be….. You know? Dim."

"Unfortunately, the damage to the temporal lobes is too extensive to repair," the robot informed him. "However, we were able to purge the mind-control that kept him from making conscious decisions of his own. He will no longer wish to attack the master on anyone's orders. He will, as best he can, now think for himself."

Bizarro sat up, heedless of the straps he snapped as he did, and looked around the alien structure.

"Where am Bizarro. This not father's house."

"No. This is Superman's home. Your home, too, I guess, if you want to stay. And, dude, father? He's not your real father. He lied to you."

Bizarro frowned.

"Father….lie to Bizarro?"

"Big time," Connor nodded. "He wanted to make a….monster out of you. He wanted you to do bad things for him. You were just a tool for him."

"Little man talk too fast. Make Bizarro's head hurt."

"Sorry. Listen, the main thing? Father isn't your father. He lied to you. He wanted to use you to do bad things. Terrible things. Got it?"

"Me get little man talk funny," he snorted.

"Everyone's a critic."

"Me am not critic," the clone huffed. "Me am Bizarro."

"Oh, boy, this is going to be fun."

"Bizarro like fun," he suddenly grinned, and lunged to his feet, slapping Connor on the back. "Little man show Bizarro fun."

Connor stared blankly for a moment, then an idea occurred to him.

"I have an idea. Follow me," he told him, and led him to the archives.

**MoS**

Lois sat at her desk, still unsure of just how she was feeling just then.

Abducted by Lex, that bald freak, and dangled over a bridge as live bait by a walking freak-show right out of her worst nightmare, she was then left behind while Superman literally pounded the creature into the ground before taking off, and leaving her to be rescued by the emergency workers who had been unable to stop sniggering at her since.

It didn't help that her skirt had been covering the wrong half of her body as she dangled upside down. She swore to God, she was never going to wear anything but slacks again.

Then, getting back to write up her story, surprised to find Kent hadn't scooped her on it, she learned that he was dead. Another victim of Luthor treachery, though there wasn't any proof. Which, to her, was proof.

Just when she was starting to get used to the big goof, too.

That was why she hated partners. He wasn't the first she had lost.

She stared at the blank screen before her, and wished she had something she could write that would finally nail the no-good slime behind half the city's ills to the wall for a change. Not necessarily proverbially, either.

She would love to see that tyrant go down hard.

Just once, she would like to see him pay for what he did to others.

Just once.

She couldn't help glancing over at Kent's desk. Already empty, a box of his personal effects setting in the chair. Things that no one would ever collect, since she knew he had no surviving family. No friends so far as she knew.

No one that would really miss the guy now that he was gone.

It all felt….unfair. And if there was one thing she hated, it was injustice.

Turning to her word processor, she began to write.

**MoS**

"Easy, friends," Jim Harper, the Guardian called out as he stepped around Superman. "Superman is not here to hurt you. He's a friend. Friend," he stressed to the massive thing that looked not unlike a slab of walking rock that turned to glower at them.

All around them, Kal-El could see creatures that literally defied description. Some mammalian. Some avian. Some amphibian. Some not even humanoid any longer. Yet, his eyes could see now, they all shared the same base human DNA. DNA altered beyond rhyme or reason into the nightmarish creatures before him. Some were so horrific, they seemed to be amorphic blobs that likely couldn't function outside of the tubes of fluid that continued them.

"This has to stop," Kal-El said more to himself not anyone else as his retrained his vision, and swept the massive Vault that was more a series of cages and pens to hold these unfortunate beings.

"I cannot disagree," a lean, humanoid creature with grayish skin, and an overlarge cranium adorned by blunted horns spoke as he stepped forward, one of the few not in cages. "However, I doubt the backers of this zoo would agree with us."

"This is Dubbilex, Superman," Guardian told him.

"I favor Kal-El. Superman was just an appellation the media put on me," he told them as he walked forward to stand before the not quite human being.

"The famed X-1," Dubbilex nodded. "It actually cheers us to hear of your exploits when our keepers rant over their losing you."

"As I said. Kal-El," he told the strange humanoid. "I take it you are with Mr. Harper in this regard, and wish to….spare your….companions?"

"Naturally. I would think a Kryptonian would feel the same way."

"And what do you know of Kryptonians?"

"I was in the lab the day they let you interact with your father's holographic farewell. It left me with quite the headache."

"You're a telepath," he reasoned.

"I am. You need not fear I betrayed any of your secrets, though. What little I absorbed, what little I understood, I have kept to myself. There was nothing I learned that I felt…..valuable to those in charge here."

Kal-El eyed him for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"I appreciate that."

"You are welcome. I will now add my plea to Guardian's, and ask you leave this matter to us. You might think freeing us outright is best, but….."

He turned to eye some of the more bizarre creatures that looked ominous even to his eyes, but behaved more like fearful refugees. He realized that he could not begin to imagine what life must be for them. Still, he sympathized well enough over their captivity.

"You would prefer staying in this…..cell," he asked.

"Of course not," the surprisingly articulate rocky behemoth declared curtly. "However, where would you expect us to go looking as we do. If civilians, if ordinary people got one look at some of us, they would run screaming from the _freaks_ and _monsters_," he snapped self-consciously.

"Indeed," Dubbilex nodded. "You, at least, Kal-El, can pass as human. Few of us have that luxury."

Kal-El considered his own refuge.

"Then why not leave, and _make_ a place for yourselves somewhere else," he asked bluntly.

The living rock eyed some of the others as Jim Harper said nothing.

"Some of us have considered that before now," Dubbilex admitted. "We are just not sure where that place might be. It would, naturally, have to be isolated, but defensible, since Cadmus would be sure to hunt us."

Kal-El's gaze swept the huge chamber labeled the Vault that still looked like a prison dumping ground in his eyes. He nodded, and told them, "I will keep an eye open myself. If I find someplace likely, I'll let you know."

"Merely call me. Mentally, and I will hear you," Dubbilex told him. "So long as you are within a hundred kilometers of Cadmus, I'm sure to receive your message."

"A hundred kilometers," Kal-El murmured. "You are very strong."

"Just don't tell the scientists here that," Dubbilex remarked with a wry expression. "They think I'm only able to do a few tricks."

"I understand," he nodded. "Since you are….powerful, can you assure me I found all the DNA taken from me by these men? Are there any traces left hidden? Any other….clones?"

Dubbilex seemed to frown, then blinked, then shook his head.

"You've apparently found them all. I did get a glimmer of something…..other. Another powerful alien they attempted to conscript to no avail."

"Where is he?"

"Only Dr. Luthor knows. He was, apparently, ordered to eliminate him since he was both powerful, and uncontrollable."

"Which is likely why they hunt me so earnestly now," Kal-El murmured.

"Indeed. I think you had better go now. We have company coming," Dubbilex told him.

"I'm already…"

'Gone' whispered in the telepath's mind even as the rush of air betrayed the Kryptonian's super speed departure.

Even as he seemed to vanish, a familiar face peered into the Vault, and Guardian and Dubbilex turned to face General Lane, and his men.

"Where is he? We know he came this way."

"He was here," Guardian nodded, and gestured around. "He left. After seeing there was nothing here to concern him. I think you would have avoided a lot of trouble with Kal-El if you had just spoken to him, General Lane. He's a very reasonable man."

"Indeed. Quite rational, and concerned with the preservation of life in general," Dubbilex agreed. "He harbors a rather understandable fear that you, and your peers across the globe are going to destroy this world. The same way his own home was destroyed by men in the blind pursuit of power."

"You were able to read his mind this time," Sam demanded, looking eager.

"Just….barely. I received only superficial, conscious impulses from him. His mind is….hardly human. It is far more powerful than any I have ever sensed since my birth. Still, his is ironically more open, and reveals an integrity I've yet to find in any human."

"Stow it, freak," a security guard spat. "Just get these things back in their cages, and…."

"Sergeant," Guardian stepped between him and one of the frail, avian creatures he would have shoved with his weapon. One with the safety off. "Perhaps if you just asked nicely, they would comply without the need for further violence?"

"Handle this, Harper," Sam Lane snapped. "The rest of you, get back out there, and help restore order. You said the alien left," he turned back to Dubbilex. "Do you know where he was going?"

"He seemed concerned with your daughter. She was, at last reckoning, marked by Dr. Luthor for death. The man does have a very long list of enemies he intends to eliminate. Did you know that you are on it, too, General Lane?"

Sam said nothing. He just glared, and walked off muttering under his breath.

"Dubbilex?"

"You do not want to know," the gray-skinned telepath remarked blandly to his friend. "I do not think Dr. Luthor will be an issue after today, though."

"You think even Lane will eliminate him?"

"I was not speaking of him. Our alien friend is not overly fond of him, either. He may not have truly shown it, but he was beyond furious over the creation and abuses forced on his clones. Very furious."

"Do you think he would kill him?"

Dubbilex considered his words, and simply said, "No. What he would do would be worse. At least, to someone like Dr. Luthor."

**MoS**

"Sorry, sir," one of his men reported, a scowling woman in tow behind him bracketed by two more men. "The slippery devil got to a transport, and flew off before we could stop him."

"He can't go that far," Sam spat. "Meanwhile, take this woman to the brig, and hold her for my personal interrogation. You," he turned to face Mercy, "Are going to help me tear down Luthor's private empire, if you kow what is good for you."

"Why should I care? Once he gets back, Lex won't stop until he's crushed all of us anyway."

"Lex won't be the only one doing some crushing, little lady," Sam growled. "You can help, or…. Well, I hear Cadmus is always on the lookout for fresh…..volunteers," he warned.

Mercy, who had seen some of the horrors created here, shuddered.

"Just keep that in mind," she was told as the general stalked off, barking orders to men that had yet to realize just how much had changed as yet.

**MoS**

Lex was beyond furious himself as he was forced to flee in the hypersonic minijet he kept stashed for just such emergencies. He had a hideout in the Alps, well beyond the usual tourist destinations where he could hole up for the moment, and plan his retribution. And he would have it.

Against Lane. Those short-sighted fools that doubted him. And most especially against that arrogant, annoying alien who…..

The small jet suddenly shuddered, losing power as he fought the controls. He searched the console before him, trying to understand how a perfectly designed ship had just lost all power and thrust when he realized he wasn't falling.

He was, however, not in control.

He looked around, and realized two things at once.

First, he no longer had wings, or an engine.

And second, a very colorfully clad freak was holding his aircraft up by a grip on the fuselage made by digging powerful fingers into the reinforced steel frame just behind the cockpit.

"It's over, Dr. Luthor," Kal-El told him over the rush of wind as Lex glared impotently at him. "I cannot, in good conscience, allow your madness to continue to endanger this planet, or its people. It is over."

"Nothing's over, you tin-plated demigod," Lex spat over his shoulder, trying to find a weapon system that was still active. "Even if you drop me in jail, I'll just….."

"Who said you were going to jail," Kal-El asked, and Lex belatedly realized they weren't flying back toward the mainland. They were headed due north. Away from any continent. Away from any nation that might have the authority to hold him.

"So, you're going to kill me," he sneered. "I didn't think you had the….."

"There are worse fates than death," he told the man, and flew toward his Fortress. His Fortress of Solitude, as Connor had dubbed it.

Of course, he had not quite put it that way.

"Dude, this place screams 'lonely and isolated,'" he had remarked. "I'd think you would have a place out where the excitement was happening."

Kal-El smiled faintly, rather liking Connor's audacious manner. He was so unlike him in personality, or demeanor, and yet he was still his genetic twin. After a fashion. He still wasn't sure just what Connor was truly capable of, as the young man wasn't truly a pure Kryptonian. Still, he was strong. Fast. And he apparently had some of his abilities. Not all, but some. It would be interesting watching him progress, and grow.

Unlike their former captors, though, he would allow Connor his own pace, and his own freedom.

That, after all, was both the Kryptonian way, and the human thing to do.

"That's it, isn't it," Lex shouted, interrupting his thoughts as the man stared at the huge, crystalline dome before them as he flew toward it. "Your secret armory."

"Hardly an armory. Just my home," he said, pleased that the atmospheric scrubbers had removed the last traces of radiation, and snow was already replacing the superheated ice and snow vaporized by the bomb earlier that week.

Lex's snort was born of pure skepticism.

"Let me guess, you think you're going to lock me up in this….ice castle?"

"Not quite," Kal-El smiled thinly as he descended right through the center of the structure's roof, and down into the chamber below that seemed to be a complex melding of crystalline structures and metal machines.

Lex just gaped at the room as Kal-El set the small jet down, then ripped open the cockpit to pull him out.

"I think this is far enough," Lex spat, dangling from his fist as he reached into a pocket, pulled out a small box, and opened it to reveal a glittering green jewel.

Kal-El blinked, and tossed him to one side of the chamber even as his free hand flashed out to seize, and close the box simultaneously.

"Honestly, Dr. Luthor," he drawled indifferently as he tossed the lead box across the room. "Do you really think such antics will catch me off guard now? Or bother me," he said, and walked to a shelf of sorts where he manipulated a few crystals to open the apparently locked panel.

Reaching inside, he pulled out a small, squat device that looked not unlike a miniature satellite dish.

"You're really immune to the….Kryptonite fragments now," he frowned, his mind absorbing that one as he tried to conjure any other weakness to use against his enemy.

"I think you humans like to say, 'Knowledge is power.' You'll understand if I don't empower you any more than you are, Dr. Luthor," he said, setting the device on a counter now, and aiming it at him.

Lex rose to his feet, but found himself unable to move beyond standing. Somehow, the place where he stood had magnetized his feet to the floor.

"What is this?"

"Your jury, Dr. Luthor," Kal-El told him as Connor and Bizarro walked into the chamber just then, led by a floating device in a teardrop shape with spindly arms.

"K-908 said you wanted to see us, big guy," Connor said as Lex's eyes went to the pair.

"Father," Bizarro growled in that low, gravelly voice of his. "Bizarro am very happy to see you," he said, but his expression suggested he would be even happier to rip him into very small pieces.

"Free me, X-2," Lex shouted. "I order you…..!"

"Bizarro very obedient. He am going to listen to you forever," he said with a scowl.

"Brothers. It is my contention to send Dr. Luthor to where he will not harm anyone else, ever again. I leave it to you to make the final decision. Do we send him to the _Phantom Zone_, or do we entrust him to the local authorities?"

"Do what you want, Supes," Connor spat, lowering the dark shades he wore to scowl at the bald freak. "Just make sure he pays, because we both know he won't if you trust the law back there."

"Bizarro," Kal-El asked the slightly more reasonable creature who seemed quite docile since he had been freed of the mind control forced on him. "What do you think?"

"Him? Think," Lex scoffed.

"Bizarro just hope to see father live long and happy life," the damaged clone grunted. "Very long, very happy life."

"That, I can promise," Kal-El said, and flipped a switch.

"Wait, what is that? What is this…..?"

Whatever he was saying was lost as the yellow beam hit Lex, and he seemed to just vanish. Nor did he reappear when Kal-El shut the machine down.

"Whoa! You disintegrated him," Connor asked.

"You haven't learned about the Phantom Zone as yet?"

"I'm not quite as great as you about absorbing all that endless data, big guy," Connor exclaimed. "Honestly, I was going to talk to you about that anyway."

"You can talk to me about anything you wish, Connor. This is your home, now, too. I told you that."

Connor sighed.

"Look, the brooding hero bit is…. Well, it's not me."

"I do not brood," Kal-El frowned.

"Dude. You brood like nobody else. Sure, you make the scene, smile and wave, but you always come back to brood. Seriously? That's been done to death. Life tossed us some crappy deals. All of us," he said, turning to nod at Bizarro. "But we got the power to make it rethink, and redo those deals. So, enough brooding. I…. I want to go live with other people. Maybe…. Myabe even go to school. A real school. You know, be a reg'lar kid, and learn things. Date girls. That sort of thing?"

Kal-El sighed.

"I'd still like to come by and visit, of course. And I do want to keep learning from your archives. Only, like I said, maybe everything doesn't have to be so….intense?"

Kal-El put a hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes. Bright, blue orbs much like his own.

"I'm not your jailer, Connor. Whatever you want to do, it's your right to choose. Just know you can always come back here. It remains your home. Just….keep it a secret, if you don't mind. We already have too many people that know about it. I'm going to have to address that, too."

"Sure thing," Connor said with a wide grin. "And don't worry, Superboy will be doing his part to help out in the big picture, too. I just don't see myself wearing long underwear anytime soon," he grinned insolently.

"Kryptonian bodywear is not….."

"Gotcha," Connor laughed, and slapped him on his shoulder. "You really need to lighten up, Kal. You don't even know how to joke."

Kal-El allowed a faint smile.

"I suppose I deserved that. And, you, Bizarro? Have you been thinking of what you will do now," he asked as he put the Phantom Zone projector away.

"Bizarro am very happy," the white giant rumbled in what passed as thoughtful for him. "Him think he stay here for long time. Maybe see what find him."

"You mean….?"

Just that fast, the bizarre doppelganger was gone, having flowing straight up, and out of the Fortress. Kal-El needed only a glance to know he had kept going straight up, and right out of the atmosphere. Nor had he faltered when he hit the void. He just flew on all the faster.

He had never considered it before, but could he survive in space, too?

After all, he was actually stronger, and slightly more powerful than Bizarro.

"Where'd he go? I thought he said…."

"You forget," Kal-El said quietly as he dropped his gaze. "Bizarro still usually says the opposite of what he means. I think he intends to go…..find himself. Or a place for himself. Just as you are doing."

"Oh. I guess that's cool. But don't you think he's going to….stand out?"

"I don't think that's an issue. He just left the planet."

"He what? You're saying we can fly into space," the teen exclaimed with bright, eager eyes.

"Me? Maybe. I'm not sure about you. Recall, you still have over seventy percent human genes. You still need to work out just what you can do before you try something…..dangerous."

"Hey," he huffed, "I've been working out in your….practice gym. I think I'm pretty tough."

"Just be careful. We still don't know your limits. Don't forget, Cadmus is still sure to be after you. Likely more than ever after today."

"So," Connor remarked, deliberately changing the topic. "What is that….Phantom Zone thingy? Where did old baldy go?"

"Kryptonians have a natural respect for all life. Even criminals, and deviants. So, rather than kill those that could not, or would not fit in, they were sentenced to a…. You would call it a pocket dimension. Uninhabited except for the very worse criminals the galaxies spawned."

"Galaxies," Connor echoed. "So….?"

"So, Lex is now in the company he deserves," Kal-El told him firmly. "That is….something else we should never let the humans know. They wouldn't understand."

"No prob, Big Bro. My lips are sealed."

"Let's go to the communication room," Kal-El told him.

"What for," Connor frowned.

"Well, you did say you wished to live a normal life for now. We need to set you up an identity if you are going to pass as one of them."

"Oh. Right. Like the whole secret identity thing those other heroes use. This is going to be righteous," COnnor grinned.

Kal-El sighed.

"Just be careful," he told him, leading him to the communications room where he could literally tap into the Web without anyone being able to trace him.

"Hey, it's me," Connor grinned. "What could happen?"

Kal-El chose not to answer that one.

_Continued…. _


	10. Chapter 10

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**10**

Kal-El stood in the monitoring room of the fortress, his mind divided as he worked on several issues before him.

There was the Phantom Zone. Did he truly want people learning of it? Did he dare risk offering it to the humans, even if it would more humanely solve the issues of overcrowded and ineffectual prisons? There was Connor, who decided that as a mostly human clone, he needed to find his own way in the world, and his own place.

Bizarro, who in his own childlike way, just wanted a place of his own, too, had left the planet, and was seeking his own place in a greater cosmos.

It was ironic, that he, the last of his race, should find two brothers, only to lose them in the same instant.

Still, he didn't second-guess his decisions.

Connor, young as he was remained technically and legally a free being in his eyes. He respected the young man's wish to find his own way. Just as he respected Bizarro's need to seek his own destiny out in the stars. A part of him hated to see him go. Another part was rather glad he wouldn't be around to get into any trouble, because he could see just how easily misunderstandings could arise around the contrary creature.

Even as he watched the monitors that exploited the humans' satellites, he tensed as his super senses suddenly tuned in on a new presence. One that shouldn't be there.

"Hello, Kal-El. Or do you prefer Superman?"

Kal-El turned to stare at the tall, muscular green Martian in a surprisingly Spartan costume that consisted of skintight pants, boots, and a cape that flowed over broad shoulders. The expanse of his hairless, green chest was bare, and yet added to the somber presence of the seemingly inexpressive visage of the fellow alien.

"You're the Martian," Kal-El murmured with a nod. "And I prefer Kal-El."

"I prefer J'onn J'onzz. Interesting place you have here," the dark eyes swept the fortress, and took in the monitoring room where they stood.

"What is interesting is how you managed to circumvent my security, and get in here," he remarked.

"I'm able to adjust my molecular density on a subatomic level until I can render myself intangible."

"Handy."

"Sometimes," he agreed. "I know you are wondering why I am here, as much as anything else."

"There is that," Kal-El agreed, but simply eyed the Martian patiently as he seemed to be a reasonable being.

"I represent a…..covert gathering of certain metas who don't care for the current vision of the world leaders on this world. We would like you to meet with us. Possibly even join our _league."_

"I'm not much for groups these days."

"I quite understand your wariness, Kal-El," he nodded. "I have been a guest of the authorities myself when I first arrived here."

"With your flair for entrances," Kal-El asked with a faint smile.

"I chose to remain simply to learn all I could of them. Unlike you, I was an adult when I arrived, and only knew what I had absorbed from radio and television transmissions to guide me here."

"I rather doubt you learned much in captivity."

Now the Martian smiled.

"You might be surprised," he said, and turned into a literal copy of the Kryptonian, down to his colorful cape. "In the right place, you can learn a great deal about people if you simply look like you belong, and listen."

"Very clever," he nodded. "Of course, I knew Martians were shape-shifters. And telepaths. The intangibility was a surprise, though. It wasn't mentioned in my father's archives."

"It's a rare gift even among my kind. Not that there are any more. Still, I'm surprised to see a live Kryptonian here. Even we Martians knew of your race's fabled xenophobia. Most of us thought your species died out when your planet exploded, knowing you refused to leave even when you must have known you were in danger."

"According to my father's archives, the Council did refuse to leave, but they didn't think the danger was that extreme. They felt it would pass, and life would go on. They were, of course, wrong. Which was why he took the unprecedented action of sending me away."

"And here you are."

"Here I am."

"I assure you, we are not trying to dupe you. We think you would be a very good addition to our ranks."

"We?"

"As I said, a group of like-minded metas. And even some very gifted, but hardly ordinary humans who feel the same way. We try to help when even the usual authorities won't. Or can't. Much like you were starting to try in Metropolis."

"Just….covertly," Kal-El remarked dryly.

"Can you imagine the reaction if the world thought an army of super-powered entities were watching them, and acting on their own?"

"I can imagine how they will react if your secret inevitably gets out. It would be better to operate openly if your mandate is truly just, and allow the people to know you are with them, rather than seeking to somehow crush them the way they fear their own government is doing at times."

"Ironically, an argument I've made several times. Unfortunately, our senior members feel otherwise. Perhaps, however, a new, and logical voice might add to that debate?"

Kal-El studied the fellow alien for a moment, and finally nodded.

"I will meet with you. I will not, however, promise anything. I've my own concerns to address as yet, and they will not wait."

"We all have other lives, Kal-El," he told him. "We only come together when a threat grave enough to require us rises."

Kal-El nodded.

"As I said. I'll meet. I won't make any other decision until we talk, though. Frankly, the very idea of a covert group like you describe is….troubling. I've already enough trust issues with the local government."

"I quite understand. Just activate this," J'onn told him, handing him a small transceiver, "And we'll pick you up when you're ready to talk."

Kal-El took the device, and studied it for a moment.

"A locator beacon?"

"It helps when we need to transport someone to, or from trouble," J'onn informed him as he showed no surprise that Kal-El had discerned the secondary use for the transceiver so swiftly. "Not all of our members have the raw power, or invulnerability of some of our real powerhouses."

Kal-El only nodded, and set the device aside.

"Anything else," Kal-El asked him bluntly.

"You don't need to worry that I'm reading your mind. It's considered impolite among my people, and even if I am the last Martian in this cosmos, I would never trespass like that against a fellow sentient."

"Not without cause?"

J'onn smiled thinly.

"And certainly not against an ally," he stressed.

"And if I chose to walk away, and not join your band?"

"I would respect that. I will admit, we have a few more….paranoid members that might want more assurances that you wouldn't become a threat yourself."

"I would think they would be more concerned with their own leaders, then."

"Ba…. One of our members is already concerned about your….confrontation with Dr. Luthor. While we know he is hardly a pinnacle of righteousness, he is still a human being. One that vanished soon after you…..visited Cadmus Labs."

"Did he," Kal-El murmured.

"I won't ask. I simply felt I should forewarn you that others might."

"My secrets keep themselves," Kal-El told him somberly. "Even from telepaths."

J'onn only smiled now.

"Batman will love you."

"Batman? So, that urban legend is real?"

"You've heard of him?"

"Only what I have overheard on the streets. Frankly, I've never been concerned with local matters. I favored facing those threats that directly impacted those who could not hope to manage them."

"Admirable."

"This is my world now, too," Kal-El told him more somberly now. "I would favor not having another planet destroyed when I can do something to stop it."

"That, Kal-El, is why we formed our league. We do more than stop rogues or common criminals. Earth is still facing hostile invaders at times. Or extra dimensional threats. Asteroids, natural disasters, and then, too, metas that aren't as….ethically guided as others. Those are the things we face when the authorities cannot."

"An admirable mandate," he nodded to him. "Still, I feel that being more open about your existence and goals would be as effective as your actual actions. Did some of those….misguided metas know that someone waited to stop them, it might….."

"You haven't studied human nature very long. Have you? There are some, my friend," the Martian said as he shook his head, "That would only rise to the challenge, and become more daring."

"Perhaps. But I feel that there would still be a greater percent that might reconsider their actions, or even be guided by a more admirable example."

"Considering your past, I am genuinely astonished that you are so….altruistic."

"I won't deny I have some…..issues with the American military. They are, I have found, hardly representative of the entire race. I have met some very fine men and women since I left the military's care. Far more than I expected."

"As have I. I must go now," he said, cocking his head as if listening to something only he could hear. "As I said, just activate the transceiver when….."

"Do you require assistance," he asked, having heard that static burst in the Martian's ear where he wore his own small transceiver.

"I won't turn it down. You never know what you are going to face when some of these missions call you up."

"Lead the way," Kal-El nodded, and rose from the ground, his own transceiver already placed into his belt for the time being.

J'onn rose up after him, but even as they left the fortress, and arched down across the globe to the trouble spot that Watchtower had pinpointed, he knew Kal-El was actually slowing to let him pace him, which implied he might be just as fast as the Flash.

Perhaps faster.

That, he felt, was intriguing.

**MoS**

"Hold it back," the colorfully clad Amazon shouted as a crimson streak dug a deep trench into the earth as the shrieking, fleeing population of the once lush tropical island fled the smoldering volcano that had not erupted, but was spewing lava in an alarming rate that was covering the island with molten rock that threatened to outstrip their efforts to evacuate the inhabitants in time.

She gave a Herculean grunt, and lifted the bridge that had started to fall even as several overloaded buses hesitantly crossed the trembling span as a cloaked figured in black and gray impatiently gestured for them to move faster.

"Doing my best, Wonder Doll," the insolent teen that could literally move faster than the eye could blink quipped. "But my trenches just aren't deep enough, or long enough to do more than divert a tenth of the flow. And my boots are starting to _melt_!"

"Flash," she growled, dropping the bridge after the last bus was across. "We still need time to get these people on boats, and out of the area. We can't…."

The sonic boom was followed almost instantly by a minor quake as something slammed into the earth not far from them. Then, before their eyes rock and earth flew even as the heroes who had been forced to make a public appearance to save the islanders found themselves gaping at the massive trench that now ran west to east, diverting a larger part of the lava flow out to sea even as a colorful figure rose from the far end of the trench to hover over the lava flow before them.

One moment they had all been sweltering in the heat of the encroaching lava that added to the tropical heat, and then an arctic chill filled the air as obviously powerful lungs blew across the lava, cooling it almost instantly to help form a crust to further slows its inexorable flow.

Then the virtual demigod turned to face Diana, princess of Themyscira, and said, "That should buy some more time, but it won't take long for the flow to overrun even my barrier. What else can I do to help?"

"We have a floundering ship blocking the harbor's main exit," Diana told him, forcing herself not to stare. "Can you help…..?"

"Diana," J'onn appeared with a faintly smug expression. "Meet Kal-El, the Metropolis Superman," he said as the man flew off as soon as she spoke. Just that quickly, the floundering ship she mentioned was rising into the air, and was being carried toward another nearby island port.

"He's more powerful than indicated," Batman growled, watching the ship depart. "This could be….troubling if he can't be guided."

"Let's give him a fair hearing before we condemn him. I'd rather not face another Vandal Savage," Diana cut in.

"Ditto on that one," Wally West agreed as the Speedster appeared next to the Amazon, actually breathing a little hard after his own efforts. "Because he sure did help us out here," he said, noting that the bubbling lava was flowing along that deeper, wider trench to pour out into the ocean.

Still, even he could see that the cooled lava was already being fed by a fresh surge of molten rock that would eventually overwhelm even that trench.

"What's your take on him," the grim hero asked J'onn.

"I haven't read his mind. Still, from our initial conversation, I believe he is inclined to be helpful. If we do not make the mistake of alienating him. He is, I should tell you, a little uncertain about operating clandestinely."

"Like we can keep that up after today," Wally quipped, eyeing the crowds still surging for space on the boats that were still arriving to help evacuate the panicked islanders. "There's as much media here as there is in a political convention during an election year!"

Batman glared at him, but said nothing.

He favored shadows, and secrecy, and everyone that actually knew him knew he hated being out in the daylight. Still, this was a job that didn't cater to preferences. Not if they were going to save the people being threatened.

"And now the Navy shows," Wally muttered as a fleet of ships appeared on the horizon. "After all the hard work is done."

"It's not over," Kal-El told him, appearing as abruptly as he departed as he landed to stand with the heroes.

"What is it," J'onn asked as the others just stared at the admittedly impressive Kryptonian that stood before them.

"On our way in, I took the time to examine the volcano to ascertain the reason for this flow. There's something inside the cone that forcing its way up. That's what is causing this flow."

"Something? Can't be more specific than that, can you, Supes?"

"Don't call me that," Kal-El grumbled as he eyed the younger hero.

"I'm just saying…."

"What did you see," Batman fairly demanded of his, his hooded gaze assessing the alien before him.

"I can't be sure. There are just enough trace elements like lead that block, or obscure my vision. Still, there is something under that cone that is moving. And it's coming right up out of the magma chamber."

"Then this could be just a prelude to something worse," the Martian realized.

"Yes," Kal-El nodded. "I suggest that you….."

"You're not even a member of this league as yet," Batman cut him off. "Until you are, you will follow _our_ direction."

"Don't be obtuse," Diana cut him off. "Superman…."

"I prefer Kal-El."

"And I prefer donuts with my French fries, but shouldn't we be focusing on the matter at hand," Wally asked, pointing at the volcano where as a fresh surge of molten rock now suggested something big was not only pushing its way up, as Kal-El said, but that it was very close to appearing.

"Point taken," Kal-El told him. "The fact is, I can withstand the heat out there," he told them. "You cannot. Stay here and aid the evacuees. If necessary, you may be needed as a secondary line of defense. I'm going to investigate this…..object firsthand."

"I'll go with you," J'onn told him.

"Into a volcano," Wally asked him pointedly.

"I won't actually be going down into it. Only close," J'onn told him with a grave tone. "So long as I'm intangible, I should be fine."

"Something wrong with you following me," Kal-El asked him even as they rose into the air, and headed for the swelling cone.

"Martians don't deal well with fire in general," J'onn admitted. "Mars is a much cooler world, recall, and we didn't have so much…..heat. In extreme circumstances, I have learned it can sometimes be….debilitating."

"Then hang back, and let me ascertain what we're actually facing," he told him as he flew ahead, and then banked down into the molten flow near one of the growing cracks in the edge of the cone.

J'onn didn't argue.

Hovering over the unyielding flow of molten rock that continued to bubble up out of the fracturing cone, he watched as Kal-El fearlessly flung himself into that primordial inferno, and vanished into the haze rising off the lava.

An instant later, a muted thunder sounded just before Kal-El was literally flung out of the center of the cone, and hurled across the sky to slam into one of the arriving naval ships. Even as J'onn turned from tracking the hero's fall, he turned to hear a monstrous roar rising up even as a massive humanoid shape pushed and clawed its way out of the lava to stand on the side of the volcano's crumbling cone.

He found he had absolutely nothing to say as the massive thing with spikes adorning virtually every inch of his body looked up at him, and again roared its wordless challenge.

Even as far away as he was, Wally could tell something bad had just happened when he looked toward the sound of that vicious snarling roar, and commented, "Well, that doesn't sound good."

Diana and Batman, still admitted stunned at seeing the seemingly unstoppable Kryptonian flung away like a child's toy by whatever was out there, merely shared a grim expression, and tried to speed up the evacuation all the more.

_Continued…_


	11. Chapter 11

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**11**

Kal-El rose to his feet, pushing himself up out of a shallow crater of hardened steel as he realized men in white, naval uniforms were gaping at him. Quite a few with guns aimed at him.

"Hold it, alien," one of the officers leading the sailors demanded. "You're under….."

"Save it," he told one of the officers. "We've got bigger trouble coming," he told him, and flew back toward the island.

Even as the creature took its first step, half falling, half leaping off the active volcanic cone, he was already flying at near top speed as he slammed into the monster, lifted it high off the ground, and slammed it down into the sea. The splash raised a small wave that swept over many of the naval vessels, but just then, he had one hope, and one hope only if he was going to stop what he feared might well be unstoppable.

"Batman," he said, flying down to intercept the man who was still directing confusion and chaos, and trying to render order to the mad flight to the overcrowded docks. "Whoever else you have on call, you'd better call them. I need them to help stall that thing until I return."

"What is it," Diana asked as J'onn flew down to join them.

"Explain it," Kal-El told him, knowing the Martian just received his mental image of a creature right out of nightmare.

A Kryptonian nightmare.

"But….?"

"No time," he snapped at Diana, and flew off so fast many of those nearby were almost swept from their feet.

"J'onn," Batman turned a grim gaze toward him.

"Debriefings can wait. Needless to say, if we cannot stop that creature, every living thing on the planet is doomed. Literally doomed."

All eyes turned to the ocean that was already roiling just before something big leapt up out of the sea, to arch back toward the island, landing with enough force to create a small quake.

"Call everyone," Batman said somberly. "Flash," he called out to him. "Time to step things up. No time for niceties. Get these people off this island now!"

"On it," Flash shouted, and people began to shout anew, but by the time their cries sounded, they were already gone.

"J'onn, you and I had better see what we can do," Diana told the Martian. "It sounds like that thing is headed directly toward us," she added needlessly as the growls, and shattering trees reached their ears.

"I will try to establish a telepathic link, and see if I can slow it."

"If," Batman asked.

J'onn cringed even as the grim detective spoke.

"Nothing," he told them, recoiling in pain. "The creature's mind is virtually blank, save for an unyielding hate and rage toward all living things. It literally wants to destroy…..everything."

"Then best we stop it," Diana, princess of the Amazon, and a literal child of the gods declared, and leapt into the sky to fly toward the oncoming beast.

"Did you reach the others?"

"None that will reach us in time to do any good," J'onn told them. "And Captain Atom is still on that….covert mission you sent him on," he added.

"Recall him," Batman said. "This is obviously an emergency."

J'onn nodded, and turned and flew after Diana.

Neither pointed out that the Amazon, strong as she was, would likely be needing help.

**MoS**

Captain Nathaniel Adam walked into the office, and eyed his superior officer.

"General Eiling," he saluted, "I have some grim news from the League."

"Did they find out you're a double agent," the grizzled, older man scowled at the sandy-haired man before him in Air Force blues. Not that Nathaniel was human. Not any longer. He could just make it seem he still looked that way.

"No, sir," he scowled. "They still think I'm with their agenda all the way. Sir, we just had their cover blown, but good. There is media all over the Corta Merdonne site. Even that isn't as serious as what they found, sir. I think we just found out where Dr. Luthor sent the Doomsday prototype we…. That is, you were attempting to reprogram."

"Doomsday was on the island," the general swore.

"Under it," the former and still technically active air force officer told his superior as he switched on a television in the office, and wasn't too surprised to find it was already on a global news network. One that was filming the 'heroic' metas attempting to evacuate islanders from the double threat of a volcanic eruption, and a genuine monster.

Even as General Eiling stared at the screen, he saw the colorfully clad woman calling herself an Amazon princess slam through several trees before bouncing off a panel truck. Hard as she hit, she was back on her feet in seconds as she apparently faced something coming right at her.

"Impressive," the general smiled at the woman, but Nathaniel knew he wasn't talking about Diana's voluptuous figure.

"She's allegedly empowered by the Greek Gods. Real gods. Or so she claims."

"Yes," he said, watching the woman as the camera tracked her, and got a glimpse of the darkly clad figure that moved in the background, always managing to evade being seen clearly. "I read your reports. Any idea who is behind that gruesome cowl as yet?"

"He's….very secretive. Won't even tell his other companions who he is as yet. He's obviously connected to very wealthy backers, though. His…..equipment doesn't come cheap."

"That's Intel we are already exploring," he said, and then gave a faint, involuntary gasp as someone in the background screamed as something huge slammed into the ground after apparently landing just feet from where the recovering Amazon stood.

Wade Eiling couldn't help but gape as he watched the woman duck a massive, spiked fist, and then slam joined fists into the behemoth's bony jaw. To his astonishment, the blow actually made the creature backpedal three full steps.

Before he shook his head, shaggy, white hair flying about a face that looked as if it were carved from stone. Very craggy stone. Then the beast roared, and swung two wild fists at the Amazon who just managed to dodge them as she tried to lure the creature away from the nearby docks.

When it was obvious it wasn't following the bait, a powerfully muscled green figure flew headlong into the monster's chest, driving it back several feet before the humanoid figure flowed and wrapped itself around the beast as the apparent man grew and stretched into a huge, wiry dragon.

"When you said he was a shape-shifter, I didn't realize," Eiling began, watching the creature pound at the flying reptile actually lifting it from the ground, carrying it back toward the volcano.

Captain Adam said nothing as he eyed the communicator that began to buzz.

"They want me there," he said.

"No," Eiling snapped.

"What," Nathaniel frowned.

Wade Eiling smiled.

"Don't you get it? Either way, we win. Either way, they're now exposed. And if the Doomsday creature takes them out, we pick up the pieces. If not, we can demonstrate they are a credible threat, and finally sway that indecisive poser in the White House to back Cadmus as he should."

"And if they fall," the disguised force of nature asked quietly, for that was how he saw himself now. "Who stops that thing from reaching population?"

"It's a big ocean. Even the Doomsday creature….."

There was a shrill cry of pain as the Martian was literally torn in half in midair, and the falling creature flung the halves in different directions. Even as he fell, Diana was already flying toward the beast. She hit it before it could reach the ground, and sent him flying fifty feet back toward the volcanic cone.

"I have to…"

"He's back," a lean, wiry man in red appeared before the camera even as Diana landed just outside the clearing, knowing well what the thundering footsteps headed their way meant.

Only the Flash, as the scarlet extrovert called himself, wasn't pointing toward the jungle. He was looking up as a streak of color cut across the sky, and then Wade was gaping at the self-styled hero that had been sighted in Metropolis of late.

"X-1," he hissed, and stared at the creature he had argued in vain should have been put down when it was first found he was growing stronger by the day.

"Apparently, they managed to contact him," Nathaniel realized, mesmerized in spite of himself at the image of that powerful being hovering in the air before the other heroes. "What can even he….."

"Get back," the alien's voice shouted, carrying well over the transmission as he lifted a curious device he aimed in the direction of the near deafening roars.

The near-mindless beast roared all the louder when it spotted the alien, and turned toward him even as the blue and red clad hero aimed the machine he carried. An instant later, the creature simply vanished in a burst of golden light.

"What is that," Eiling swore as he watched the alien land to regard Diana with a somber sweep of his gaze. "What did he do?"

"I have no idea, sir," he told him.

Wade eyed him, and drawled, "Maybe you'd better return after all. Find out all you can. Most especially if that alien is joining that band of vigilantes."

Nathaniel's human guise faded in a blur of white energy, and left only a silvery figure standing before the general.

"I'll report when I can," he said somberly, eyeing the general he still didn't quite trust.

Still, he was an officer of the United States, and he had a duty to follow orders. For now.

He rose from the ground, and flew out General Eiling's window without looking back.

Or opening it.

He simply passed through the molecules without interacting with them, and kept going. He was, after all, Captain Atom. Master of all things subatomic. Maybe even more.

**MoS**

"What is that," Batman demanded as he limped over to join Diana and Kal-El even as Flash returned with a still weak, but recovering J'onn.

"A prison key," Kal-El told him. "Don't worry. He cannot break out, and he can not harm anyone where I sent him. That, however, isn't what worries me."

"You're still worried," Flash groaned. "Didn't you just zap the monster? What else is there? I mean, besides the still dangerously hot lava," he gestured helplessly as Batman and Diana both eyed him with somber looks.

"When I first saw the creature, I thought it was the Doomsday beast from my father's archives. I was wrong. It was just a copy. A far superior one than Cadmus could have created," he pointed out even as Batman just eyed him, and the Phantom Zone projector with a grave expression.

"Which suggests, then, that the original is still unaccounted for, as well as whoever sent that thing here," Diana realized.

"Indeed," Kal-El nodded. "You've a keen mind to ascertain the issues so readily."

"Wisdom of the gods," Wally winked.

Kal-El merely eyed the shapely Amazon, and shrugged. "If you say so. I trust you are all right, J'onn J'onzz?"

"I have been better," the Martian smiled wanly. "I should be fine once I rest enough to fully recover."

"Dr. Lex Luthor recently vanished after a raid on Cadmus," Batman cut in. "Were you behind that, too," he asked, nodding at his Phantom Zone projector.

"I have not seen Dr. Luthor recently," Kal-El drawled blandly. "I have been to Cadmus. A dangerous place where men are, once again, overreaching their grasp."

"That is hardly unusual in the Patriarch's world," Diana told him. "Still, if anything has undermined Luthor, or his mad dreams, I won't complain."

"We aren't judges or juries," Batman grit out. "We certainly aren't executioners."

"Uh, say, Bats? What about the lava? Remember the really hot stuff still coming out way?"

"Without the creature, the flow should rapidly diminish, and the residue should not be enough to endanger anyone once they off the island," Kal-El told them as he noted several reporters trying to edge closer with their cameras.

He also noted Batman was surreptitiously moving to keep his face ever away from those cameras.

Beyond the island, the last refugees were leaving in small canoes, and fishing boats, heading for the naval vessels that had arrived for humanitarian aid. He already noted several launches filled with armed men were headed for the docks, though. He had little doubt that they intended to intercept them.

"I suggest if you wish to retain whatever anonymity you desire keeping, you depart now," Kal-El told them. "The Navy seems to be sending armed squads our way, and I rather doubt it's to aid the journalists left behind."

"Hold on one minute, mister," Batman growled. "We still have a few things to discuss."

"Later," Kal-El told him, and leapt into the air, and kept going. He was gone faster than Wally could blink.

"Wow. And I thought I was fast," the Flash declared as he stared into the wide, blue sky. The very empty wide, blue sky.

"Time to go," J'onn agreed, glancing around himself. "I suggest you people also get off this island. It's still not safe here, and the cone is still unstable enough that it might yet erupt."

"Wait," a young woman with an all-business gleam in her eyes demanded. "Who are you people? Where did you come from? What are you…..?"

J'onn and Diana simply flew up into the air, even as Batman's right hand rose, and a long, fine cable exploded from a small device in his hand, the grapple catching a passing aircraft that was shaped like a huge bat. Even as grapple connected to craft, he vanished as he was pulled up and away. By the time the reporters looked back toward the speedster, he had literally run off, right across the ocean, splashing the oncoming navy personnel without slowing to greet them.

Just that swift, they were gone, and only the smoldering island rapidly growing hotter as the lava neared the beaches remained to mark the trouble spot.

"Let's get out of here," one cameraman suggested. "I'm not that fond of barbecue."

They all headed for their own launches, all while rapidly speculating live as their cameras broadcast the incredible images they had seen here today. Images that would be replayed all over the globe as everyone asked just who those powerful people were that come out of nowhere, and returned just as swiftly.

**MoS**

As fast as he was, Captain Atom knew he wasn't going to reach them before they left the island after he realized the news he was overhearing on the radio waves and electronic pulses flowing around him told him the heroes had indeed already left the island even as he headed for the one place he knew Batman would regroup to debrief the team after that virtual fiasco.

He wondered if the alien would be there, too.

The Kryptonian.

They called him Superman now. He had, of course, read Cadmus' file on X-1. A part of him sympathized with the being. A part of him understood how General Eiling, and quite a few others couldn't help but fear he might be part of something bigger than anyone knew. Either way, he knew an unguided force with that much raw power was too dangerous to ignore. Especially as he was an alien with no real ties to the country.

That was what really irritated Eiling.

He knew that, because Eiling hated the fact that he had power that the general had wanted for himself. Instead, an experiment gone wrong had technically killed him, only to bring him back as a near cosmic force of raw energy. Energy that had few concerns. He had a weakness, though. Without his special containment suit, his human manifestation took all his will to maintain, and he could easily fall apart. Literally. Breaking down into his component atoms and losing himself.

It had taken him years to pull himself together after that ill-fated experiment. It wasn't much of a surprise that Eiling was waiting to once more pull his strings when he reappeared. He had even had that containment suit waiting, a piece of another experiment that went awry. But one that allowed him to pass as a man once more.

Still, even he wondered why it was that he let Eiling continue to bark orders knowing it was his fault that Nathaniel Adam had become Atom, and little else.

Duty.

Damnable, unyielding duty.

Is that all he really had left?

Putting his thoughts aside, he turned his path upwards, heading toward Eiling's other peeve. He fumed over the fact he had yet to learn where the heroes resided on Earth. It grated all the more that he could not reach their 'Watchtower' that orbited the planet like some grand citadel. One with enough defenses that even his best spacecraft couldn't get near it unless the League allowed it. They did not, as a rule, invite outsiders.

He had to smirk at that, and added speed as he left the atmosphere, and flew on toward the League base. Hopefully, he would arrive in time for Batman's debriefing to get a better idea of what was going on with the erstwhile ward of Cadmus' Sam Lane.

Another officer with a grim view of the world around him so far as he could tell.

**MoS**

"Welcome back," Kal-El told him as J'onn materialized behind him in the communication room where he was monitoring the Phantom Zone.

He shut down the device, and turned to face the Martian who simply nodded at him.

"You don't need telepathy," he remarked, "Considering how sharp your senses are. Few would have detected me coming as I did. In fact, none do."

"My senses aside," he told the Martian, gesturing for him to follow him out of the chamber. "Nothing enters my Fortress that I don't know about. At least, not a second time," he smiled somberly as he eyed J'onn. "Refreshments," He asked, lading him to what appeared to be a very comfortable lounge in spite of the ice and crystal all around them.

"This is….genuinely astonishing architecture. Native Kryptonian?"

"As close as I could manage on this planet," he nodded.

"It's more than I ever expected to see. As I said, your people weren't noted for….exploring."

"They did. They simply left such exploration to drones, robots, or remote viewers."

"I see."

"So, J'onn," he said, sitting on a plush chair after adjusting his cape behind him. Next to him, a robotic drone appeared that brought a tray of refreshments to the table between their chairs.

The Martian merely sat, and smiled his appreciation as he took the cup.

"Good," he murmured.

"Oddly enough, I find I enjoy cocoa. It's…..soothing at times."

"I favor the cookies myself," J'onn admitted. "I got rather addicted to them since coming to Earth," he told him, picking up an Oreo.

"I noticed."

"You….noticed?"

"Your satellite isn't that far away for my eyes. I've watched you even before you approached me."

"I see. Yet you didn't approach us?"

"You were not my business. I'm still not sure you are. Frankly, Batman's attitude aside, I do not consider myself a very good fit for your…..league."

"I would think that after today, you would see how much we do need you. We have power, but none in your range. Even Diana and I aren't as strong as you. Even more important, you obviously use your mind as much as your muscles. We need that. Batman is a very good tactician, but he's more likely to go it alone than not. Wally rarely thinks before acting, and some of our other members can be just as bad."

"I am more than happy to help anyone that needs my help. Especially in regard to safeguarding the planet as a whole. I just don't think running about in the shadows is for me. Frankly, I don't think you have any choice now but to make some kind of statement after the media spotted you on that island."

"That was part of what we were….discussing yesterday after the mission. Batman still thinks we should just ignore the press, and continue as we have. Let them speculate all they wish, but leave nothing for them to find. Or quote."

"That's not very logical. At this point, the press can be an ally if you approach them. Just as the press can make the world see your goals as either honorable, or suspect."

"Very true. Diana and I made the same point. Batman, however, can be…."

"Stubborn," Kal-El asked.

"To say the least," J'onn agreed as he reached for the last cookie.

Kal-El only smiled, and allowed him the treat.

"So, what do I tell our more reasonable members about your….decision?"

"Tell them if they need help, I am always here. I still do have reservations about your group."

"Diana hopes you will join. She thinks you might….balance the sides. Your obvious power aside, your reason impressed her."

"My….reason?"

"Most of our more powerful members are the type to just keep throwing fists without thought. You managed to assess the situation on Corta Merdonne, and acted accordingly to end what could have become a fiasco without that failing, as she puts it."

Kal-El said nothing to that.

He paused, rubbing his forehead, then eyed J'onn.

"Trying to read my mind?"

"It's obviously not working," he said without denying it.

"All you have to do is ask. What few secrets I harbor, guard themselves."

"Obviously. Batman is still concerned over your….ray device."

"It's a Phantom Zone projector."

"Of course. The Thanagarians I encountered once used the same device for their own rogues and malcontents. They deemed it….."

"Humane," Kal-El suggested.

"Far from it. They felt an incorporeal existence in a dimension you cannot escape to be the ultimate in punishment for a warrior race."

Kal-El said nothing to that.

"So, your father sent one with you?"

"No. I built it after studying the blueprints from the archives sent with me."

"Obviously, you considered a use for it even before that faux Doomsday."

"Obviously. In fact, I was considering assessing the Kryptonians in the Zone that might be worthy of a second chance."

"That could be…. Extraordinarily risky. After all, they'd have the same powers and abilities that you do. Suppose they chose not to follow a lawful path?"

"You will note that none have been released," Kal-El all but snorted. "I'm not stupid. I will not be releasing anyone just because I'm the last known member of my race in this universe. I am, however, still sifting records and data, and using my own intelligence in observing those confined to the Phantom Zone."

"So, you managed a viewer, too?"

Kal-El's expression suggested J'onn might be a little slow after all.

"Sorry. I'm used to being around Wally," the Martian allowed the faintest of smiles.

"Indeed. He is quite the…..unique character. Isn't he?"

Before J'onn could reply, a faint klaxxon sounded, and Kal-El frowned as he jumped up, and raced back the way he had come.

"What is that?"

"That alert is for extra-dimensional incursions," he told him. "Something is coming through hyperspace. Something….big," he said, and didn't stop the Martian from following him back to the communications station, where he opened the panel, stepped inside, and stared.

"What is that," J'onn exclaimed, staring at the massive construct headed their way, for he could easily make out Jupiter in the background of the images being relayed by the Kryptonian's scanners.

"I don't know," Kal-El admitted, eyeing the massive, artificial satellite that was easily twice the size of the moon, and yet moving under it's own power. "But it's obviously coming right at Earth. I suggest you contact your own people. And the military."

"You think it's hostile?"

A blinding flash cut off the transmitted images, and Kal-El nodded.

"Definitely. Friendly visitors don't vaporize your reconnaissance drones without warning."

"Batman, Diana," J'onn called at once, putting one finger to his left ear. "We have a situation."

"We see it, J'onn. Unless you have another situation," a gruff voice Kal-El didn't recognize.

"Just a giant moon coming at us," he remarked. "Captain Atom, we made need to call everyone in on this. Send out a general alert. Even Kal-El thinks this is bad news."

"Anything in the Kryptonian annals you mentioned to forewarn us," Batman's distinctive voice came over the link.

"Nothing," J'onn admitted after Kal-El shook his head again. "I'm on my way back. I suggest we make a plan. Anything this large isn't going to be easy to face head-on."

"Obviously," another voice drawled.

"Flash," Kal-El heard Batman growl. "Alert all planetary authorities. We may have to consider this an invasion."

"No," another voice cut in on the League signal. "It's much worse."

"Who are you," Batman growled. "How did you…..?"

A burst of static cut into the channel, and all contact was lost.

"We're being jammed. By the planetoid," Kal-El told J'onn.

"Then it's definitely hostile."

"Definitely. I'll review my archives, just in case, and then contact you at the Watchtower later. Meanwhile, I suggest you go help your friends prepare. Whoever that was at the end sounded…."

"I didn't recognize him. Not that it matters. New metas are popping up every day."

Kal-El nodded, and J'onn vanished as he rose to phase through the Fortress before he transported to the Watchtower. He turned back to his communications panel, and opened up a private frequency.

"Jor-El," he called. "I require information."

_Continued…_


	12. Chapter 12

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**12**

"Flash," Batman growled as he absorbed what was being said, and not said. "Alert all planetary authorities. We may have to consider this an invasion."

"No," another voice cut in on the League signal. "It's much worse."

"Who are you," Batman growled. "How did you…..?"

The burst of static almost deafened them as their transponders all failed in the same instant.

"What was that," Wally complained, pulling out his own transceiver to glare at the device.

"We're deaf and dumb," Captain Atom spat, pounding a fist on the console he stood over. "Something just shut down all our gear. We can't call anyone."

"Teleporters are down, too," a man in green, carrying a high-tech bow in one hand grumbled. "No one is leaving this tub that way."

"We only have three javelins online," Batman spat. "Not enough to carry all our people down."

"I'll work on the transporters," J'onn J'onzz told him as he seemed to melt through the hull just then, rising to solidify before the heroes as he nodded at Batman. "Everyone else, get to the Javelins, and begin preparing for evacuation. This station may be a target once that….invader gets close enough."

"All right," Batman nodded. "Everyone into life support suits. Now. And begin evac. J'onn, did the Kryptonian have any idea what we're facing?"

"Never mind the flying planet," Wally exclaimed, pointing outside at a glowing figure rising toward them even as they stared out the main ports.

"He's flying through space," Diana murmured.

"He's headed for the main airlock," Captain Atom told Batman. "Do we let him in?"

"Yes," Batman nodded. "I've the feeling he's the one that tapped in on our frequency. Let's find out what…."

"More company," Wally pointed as a familiar red cape appeared as the Kryptonian flew up to join the glowing, green figure, and then flew alongside him to the airlock.

"Apparently, they are….acquainted," Captain Atom murmured.

"Let them in," Diana agreed.

A few minutes later, the more colorfully clad hero walked onto the main control bridge with a man dressed in green and black, with a curious sigil across his chest.

"Who are you supposed to be," Wally asked with a smirk. "Spinach Man?"

"He's the Green Lantern for this galactic sector," Kal-El cut in when the dark-haired man scowled behind his mask, jaw clenching, and his eyes glittering with a telltale green reflecting the power now manifesting within in. "They're a group of galactic peace keepers sponsored by the immortal Guardians of Oa. And he has information on this threat. You should listen."

"Cosmic cops, huh," Wally snipped. "Looks pretty human to me."

"I am, Flash," Green Lantern told him, not mentioning he had only been on the job a month, and three of those four weeks had been on Oa learning just how his life had changed after that ring popped up, and declared he had been chosen.

"Even the Kryptonians knew, and respected the Lantern Corps," Kal-El cut in when he saw Batman's scowl deepen. "You should trust him."

"And listen to me. What's coming isn't just an invasion. It's the end of the world."

"Again," Wally moaned.

No one laughed.

"That planet is called Warworld. It's a roving coliseum filed with the meanest, toughest, and deadliest vermin in the galaxy led by someone even worse," the masked Lantern told them, holding up his fist as the ring projected a huge, emerald hologram of a bald, muscled humanoid that looked as if he liked to rip off arms for fun.

"He's green, too," Wally frowned.

"He's yellow," Hal said uneasily. "The ring doesn't do colors. Listen," he turned to the others around him. "Warworld is more than a traveling circus. That planet-ship uses a lot of fuel, and resources. He'll strip this world of everything. Literally everything. People included. Provided he leaves any alive."

"You have a plan," Batman asked somberly, realizing he was out of his depth here, and sinking fast. Crime and villains were one thing. Galactic gladiators were something entirely different. Not that he would ever admit it.

"The obvious one. Warworld has a reputation. So does its leader. We challenge Mongul. Present a champion, and hope he, or she," he added, eyeing Diana, "Can beat him. If he is beaten at his own game, Mongul's warrior honor will force him to abide by any terms set for the contest."

"Which, obviously, would be to get lost," Wally suggested.

"Obviously."

"So, who will be our champion," Captain Atom asked the Green Lantern. "You?"

"No. Powerful as this ring makes me, I would be at a…..disadvantage here. That's why I approached Superman."

"Kal-El," he told him quietly.

"Superman fits," Hal told him just as blandly. "So, can we count on you? Can you fight this gladiator for Earth's survival?"

Every hero on the bridge stared at him, and even Batman finally gave a faint, curt nod.

"I would have joined you all the same. If you think this….contest will spare us unnecessary casualties, I will do whatever I must."

"Good. Then the first thing we do is meet with Mongul. That's the easy part," Hal admitted. "Getting him to accept our terms might be….tricky. We have to reach him first."

Captain Atom stepped forward, and told him, "Leave that to me."

"I shall accompany him," J'onn told them.

Hal seemed to look at him for the first time, and frowned. "Aren't you extinct?"

"I am the last of my race," J'onn told him somberly. "Is that a problem?"

Hal shook his head, and looked around again.

"We'll need a fifth member. These things always require an envoy of five. Don't know why. Haven't figured out all the alien protocols out there as yet. No offense," he said, eyeing J'onn.

"None taken. I've yet to figure out humans either."

"Let me know when you do," Hal told him with a crooked smirk. "We'll write a book."

"I'll go with you," Diana told them when the few others merely eyed Batman.

"You," Hal echoed. "No offense, but…."

"Amazons are born warriors," Diana fairly growled at him. "And I am more than I appear."

Hal wisely did not respond to that as Kal-El simply nodded at her, and declared, "We would be honored to have you at our side, Princess Diana."

"Princess?"

"She is Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira's daughter and heir," Kal-El told him. "As well as a proven, and powerful warrior in her own right," he added, recalling her daring lead in holding back the Doomsday clone almost single-handedly. "I did some research since our first meeting," he told Diana who only stared at him.

"How did you learn of my mother. Or find Themyscira," she asked bluntly as everyone else just backed away. They all knew Diana could be beyond sensitive about any man finding, or approaching her homeland. Not that many could find it at all, since it was cloaked by magic.

"I did not it," he admitted honestly. "I merely listened, and extrapolated from my studies based on what little was known of you. The rest, naturally, was speculative logic based on myth and legend that have obviously been confirmed in your presence here."

"Dude," Wally smirked. "You're starting to sound a little like Bats here."

"Don't call me Bats," the detective growled.

More than a few eyes rolled among the League members.

"Enough," Kal-El cut in. "I suggest, since time is obviously not a luxury in this matter, that we get underway at once."

"How," Wally asked. "I mean, some of you guys might fly through space like taking a walk, but our birds can't get out that far, and even Diana couldn't….."

"I'll carry her," Hal told them. "In fact, it might look best if I carry everyone as we approach Warworld."

"You must have some arms," Wally quipped.

Hal responded by holding up his ring.

"I'll just form a platform with an airtight bubble. I can carry you with ease that way. Are we ready?"

"Yes," Kal-El answered without hesitation.

"Let's go," Diana agreed.

"I'll keep you informed with a telepathic link," J'onn told Batman. "Meanwhile, you might still wish to ready Earth for what is transpiring."

"I doubt you'll need to do anything," Hal replied. "The Guardians' record indicate Mongul has quite the ego. He won't do anything until he makes a….public service announcement."

"Which will incite panic and hysteria across the globe," Batman predicted. "We definitely need to get back down to the planet. We may be needed in the worst case scenarios if flare-ups the authorities are unable to handle rise out of any resulting chaos."

"Agreed," Wally nodded, thinking of his own family down in Keystone City.

"Go prep the javelins, and let's get everyone down. With our comms down, we can't do much from here."

Wally was gone in an instant.

"We should be going, too," Hal said, and led the others back down the corridor to the airlock. The three League members followed without hesitation. As did Kal-El.

"So, what do you guys call your team?"

"The League," Hal was told by Captain Atom. "We were a covert operation for handling and containing metas too powerful to manage until a few days ago when our cover was blown."

"I saw the news. Big and ugly really gone," he asked, eyeing Kal-El.

"He is. His…..bigger and uglier twin isn't," the Kryptonian admitted. "I've been trying to track him down, along with whoever sent that clone. So far, to no avail."

"If we don't handle Warworld, that will hardly matter," Captain Atom said as a green haze filled his vision, just before his own unique senses assessed and catalogued the emerald energy used and shaped by the Lantern's willpower. Even he was surprised at the sheer power in that simple device as the hatch opened, and Green Lantern lifted, and carried them out into space without any discernible effort in the large bubble he had formed around the four of them.

"True. Still, as troubling as this…..gladiator is, I am still concerned with Doomsday. He is more of a threat than you realize."

"You seem to know much of him," Captain Atom remarked as he studied the admittedly impressive alien standing next to him in primary colors that didn't look garish at all in spite of initial impressions.

"He was, originally, Kryptonian, too. He was….spawned by a group of very unethical scientists during Krypton's early days of clone experimentations."

"Much like Cadmus," Diana suggested.

"Too much like Cadmus," Kal-El told them. "Even I could not believe some of what I found in their labs. It is….troubling."

"Without Dr. Luthor, I would think that Cadmus would soon be history," Captain Atom asked suggestively.

"There is always another Luthor," Diana spat.

"And he was not the head of the group," Kal-El added, surprising the silver hero. "Someone with more power and money was backing him from the start. It is true, Dr. Luthor's own pride and ambition had him rising to exploit those resources, but he was not the head of that particular snake."

"Are you still looking for that head, then," Nathaniel asked him probingly.

"Cadmus no longer has my DNA. That makes them a human concern. As I said, my attention is focused on more immediate threats. As human authorities have made it clear they do not always wish my intervention, I have decided to focus only on matters that threaten my adopted home on a global scale."

"Adopted home," Diana asked.

"I'm sure by now my biography, limited as it was, has been read by everyone on the planet. Your people do seem to worship celebrity's, whatever their status. The simple truth is, I am an orphan sent from a dying world, and I'm as much a Terran now as anyone born here. The Earth is now the only home I have left. I would rather unscrupulous, or blind men did not destroy it, too."

"I'd rather not have anyone destroy it," Hal quipped.

"Indeed," J'onn replied evenly.

"That thing is….big," Diana gasped, seeing the growing dot in the darkness around them.

"And faster than I would have expected," J'onn admitted, eyeing the huge planetoid coming toward them even as they flew toward it.

"I'm going to try to initiate contact, guys," the Green Lantern told them now, his voice carrying through the narrow tendril connecting them to his protective aura. "So don't mind me if I ignore you while I focus on this."

"I could telepathically….."

"I don't think that's necessary," Kal-El informed them needlessly as a small fleet of apparent fighters rose from the planetoid, headed directly toward them.

"I don't need telepathy to know they're not the welcoming sort," Diana said, looking at the seemingly fragile bubble holding them with obvious unease.

"We're being escorted to the ruler of Warworld. He was apparently expecting us," Hal told them just then as the fighters flew around them, banked, and bracketed them as some flew close enough for Diana to see that not all of them were humanoid. Or even close.

"Did you present our offer and terms," Kal-El asked the Lantern.

"Trust me, Superman. I didn't have to say a thing. Just showing up as we did pretty much indicates we're here to fight. Now we just need to manage the details."

Kal-El said nothing to that as they approached Warworld, and began to descend.

"Rao," he rasped, staring down at the surprisingly overpopulated world that looked more like one huge ghetto than the technological marvel that allowed a planet to move through space at the whim of its master.

"Tyrants can be found anywhere," J'onn told him somberly, reading his mood even without needing to read his thoughts. "Even Mars had its own troubles before my people passed from this realm."

"Why don't they just rebel," Diana asked.

"That sounds funny coming from royalty," Hal quipped as they began to descend toward a massive, semi-domed structure that would have put the biggest stadiums on Earth to shame.

"Don't judge what you do not understand," Diana spat. "Themyscira has lived in peace and harmony for thousands of years because we left Man's example behind us long ago."

"Touchy," the Lantern muttered. "Then why did you leave your….paradise," he asked.

Diana frowned.

"It's complicated."

"And hardly the issue," Kal-El spoke up just as they landed in front of the huge coliseum, and the population made up of hundreds of different races stood and gaped at them as Green Lantern lowered the bubble only after they reached the ground.

"Don't worry. The air is safe enough here. Most of the species on the planet need oxygen within tolerable limits, too," he told them.

Kal-El merely nodded as they stared around them.

"So, all these species are from….conquered worlds," Captain Atom asked, eyeing the surprising diversity around him.

Yet, to his eyes, they were all…..human. He could touch their energetic essences. Their souls, some might say. And they all felt the same. They all radiated….misery.

"Likely," Green Lantern nodded, and then turned as a lanky, gray sentient in blue robes approached them.

It was more than obvious he had some status here as the crowd all but stomped over their own to avoid even touching the newcomer.

"You are the Green Lantern for this sector? We heard that Lantern was deceased."

"I'm his replacement," Hal told him. "And we've come to negotiate with Mongul."

"If you know of Great Mongul," the being cut him off. "Then you know there is no negotiating with the inevitable before you. This planet will soon add to Lord Mongul's power and wealth, and any survivors shall help spread his fame as they bewail his power and….."

"Enough," Green Lantern surprised several of his own even as the crowd shrank back from his obvious anger. "We are here to speak to Mongul himself. Not lackeys. My words are not for those too unimportant to hear, or understand them."

The wiry, gaunt creature tittered, and drawled, "You have fire. We shall test that fire in the arena. If you survive the preliminaries," he said, and abruptly pulled and fired a small silver device at Hal's chest.

The beam struck him pointblank, and ricocheted into the crowd to put half those in the immediate vicinity to sleep.

The alien frowned, shook his head, and drawled, "Well, this is unexpected."

"Allow me," J'onn said, and stepped forward, eyed the being, and then dropped a hard fist on his skull, rendering him unconscious.

"I could have done that," Hal muttered.

"True," J'onn nodded in agreement. "But I read his mind first. Mongul is inside. Watching. This was a test. We have several more….gauntlets to pass before we can stand before him. I suggest we be on our guard. We are now in mortal danger."

"Goes without saying," Captain Atom remarked as he looked around the milling crowd that grew ugly at having some of their own so easily put down.

Not that it stopped some from surging forward to exploit their unconscious compatriots, stripping them of anything of value before they woke.

"This way," J'onn told them, and took the lead as they were led not to the main doors of that massive stadium, but to a side door near what seemed a small booth.

**MoS**

"Nothing," Lois muttered. "It's been almost a week since that monster almost tore up that island, and no one has seen one trace of Superman," she complained.

"Well, it's not like the military made him feel very welcome," Jimmy pointed out.

Lois, thinking of her own father's show of concern that masked his attempt to debrief her, didn't argue. Sam Lane was still looking for both Luthor, and Superman. He was beyond furious that they had both escaped him. Meanwhile, there was heavy pressure coming down on the Planet to keep anything about Cadmus from being published, whatever the source.

A lot of that pressure was obviously federal.

To his credit, Perry was doing his best to ignore it.

"Maybe he got hurt, and…. You know, had to go rest, or something?"

"Superman," Lois frowned. "Somehow, I don't think that's likely," Lois told her new shadow who had become her official photographer after that Bizarro incident.

While she still favored being solo, she had to admit that Jimmy's pictures had finally helped prove Bruno Mannheim's connections to Intergang, and help her expose the thug in Armani was still just a thug.

Even if he was showing up with some seriously high-tech weapons lately that made it hard for the cops to even touch him, or his gang. She was hoping to get Superman to help, but he was on hiatus, or something, and had not shown up in Metropolis since…

She sighed, and found herself remembering Clark Kent again.

She didn't really like the guy. He had been smug, backbiting, and stole more stories from under her nose than anyone else in her life. Yet he had not deserved to die like that. Damn Luthor anyway. She had little doubt he was to blame. Which meant her father was to blame. Even she probably couldn't count all the bodies those two had buried over the years.

Only where Luthor was a garden variety megalomaniac, her father had the backing of an entire nation as he performed what he deemed 'his duty.'

Hypocritical jerk.

No wonder her mother had bailed on him.

She grumbled, and looked around as she realized everyone was looking at the sky. A very dark sky considering it was supposed to be ten in the morning.

"What's going on," she frowned as she got up from her desk, and walked toward the window.

No one had a clue.

**MoS**

Mongul, they could see, was massive. Well over six foot, his body looked hard as steel, and his yellow pigmentation made him look positively ominous.

His low, growl of a voice when he spoke was hardly a surprise to them when he all but sneered down at them when they finally passed through several 'tests' to reach the throne set up before the wide, sandy arena with more than a few suspiciously dark stains on that packed surface.

"So, you're the mudball's best representatives? I'm unimpressed."

"We're here to offer you a challenge," Green Lantern spoke first.

"Oh, that much is obvious, human," Mongul sneered. "The question is, are any of you up to the challenge? I will not waste my time with inferior beings. So, let you each face a champion of my choosing. I will judge you, and select the champion I feel worthy enough to face me."

"And when we win," Green Lantern stated confidently, "You will leave this sector, and its peoples, in peace."

Mongul's throne groaned under the slap he dropped on arm as he rose, roaring with laughter as he did so.

"You've audacity, human. I'll give you that," he crowed. "For that, I allow you the honor of going first. Understand, you must fight alone," he said, pointing at the center of the arena. "If any aid you, you forfeit the match, and my good will."

"Then you accept," Kal-El asked firmly. "Our victory means you leave here in peace?"

"If you win, human," Mongul called him, obviously not aware he was not a Terran. "If."

"We will win," Kal-El nodded. "Bring on your challengers. But in the end, I will face you."

"Arrogance aside, human," Mongul sneered, "You have yet to earn….."

"I am not human," Kal-El chose to state bluntly now as several obvious sentries appeared, ready to guide, or assist. If not attack. "I am Kryptonian."

Mongul stared. Hard.

"Are you now," he finally murmured. "We shall see. We shall see."

"You. Lapdog of Oa, Turn and face your foe," Mongul demanded as the dais, and his throne, rose on a hidden platform that carried him above the arena floor, leaving him looking down at them.

"You will await your turn for a glorious death for Lord Mongul's entertainment within," one of the sentries told the group as Hal turned, and gaped at the nine foot, yellow robot.

He glowered, but did not waver.

"Lantern," Kal-El murmured. "Machines of any world cannot move well if hampered by sand in their workings," he advised as he passed Hal on his way to join the others in the recessed alcove just under Mongul's now elevated throne as the throngs began to fill the few empty seats in the huge arena as news of newcomers, and fresh blood reached them.

"Bread and circuses," Captain Atom murmured, staring out at the scene before him. "I wonder if any civilization ever truly advances beyond this stage."

"Krypton did. As did Mars," Kal-El told him. "Unfortunately, there are always other endings awaiting even the most advanced species," he said, watching as Hal stepped forward to face the yellow giant with huge fists bunching for a killing blow even as he approached.

"What did you tell him," Diana asked as Captain Atom simply frowned at Kal-El's words. Whatever Wade Eiling had told him of X-1, it didn't seem to fit. The man had a natural dignity about him, but even more, he seemed to carry himself not as invader, rogue, or even a vindictive fugitive, but rather as a man who watched the world with a depth of melancholy that surprised him. As if the Kryptonian were able to see the faults in those around him, yet was willing to let them make their mistakes even though it saddened him.

"That the best machines don't work well when clogged with sand," Kal-El replied softly, mindful of their guards.

Diana allowed a faint smile as Hal dodged, and lifted his ring.

"Clever," she said, even as Hal's ring formed a row of giant fans that stirred the loose dust in the arena floor that was meant to cover the bloodstains, and formed a dust cloud that remained swirling around the lumbering giant that swung ineffectual fists at the dodging and weaving human that chose to run back and forth around it.

Eventually, in an almost anticlimactic end, the machine-man ground to an audible halt, and stood frozen with both fists raised over the Green Lantern who now rose from the ground to hover before the yellow robot. His ring flashed again, the fans vanishing even as a large hand formed to lift and fling the robot across the arena, landing in a clattering heap near the wall where Mongul's throne was located.

The crowd actually booed, not seeing the expected carnage as Hal turned and walked back toward the other heroes watching.

"My friends," Mongul's voice boomed over the arena as he rose to speak, his displeasure obvious as he glared down at the Lantern. "That was just the warm up. The comedy portion of today's show. Next, let us show these interlopers how we deal with unwarranted arrogance. The next would-be champion from the humans will be the silver gladiator. Let us see how he fares against the Tonquul!"

The crowd erupted again as Kal-El frowned.

"What is it," Diana asked as Captain Atom frowned.

"A tonquul is a living energy siphon," he told them. "It literally feeds on energy by sucking in anything it finds for its energies. It isn't nicknamed a sun-eater without cause. They are even known to drain the life from stars if they are allowed to grow massive enough to need such nourishment."

"Captain," J'onn murmured uneasily. "If it consumes energy….."

"I've actually faced one before," he said, stepping out of the alcove as Hal nodded at him as they passed. "Of course," he added, pausing to see a seething, mass of am orphic flesh oozing out of a now open door across the arena. "It was much smaller."

"How did you beat it," Diana asked, staring in horror at the fleshy thing that seemed to test the air with two, large tentacles equipped with large, oval suckers like an octopus might possess.

"I overfed it," he said, and again strode forward with grim determination.

_Continued….._


	13. Chapter 13

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**13**

"People of Earth," a wiry, big-headed alien in green robes with a gaunt look declared as every digital device on the planet simultaneously broadcast the transmission now being beamed at the planet as Warworld approached Earth from Mar's outer orbital path. "I represent your new ruler, Lord Mongul of Warworld. I have a very important announcement concerning your future. Should you be allowed to have one."

Lois Lane was just one of those watching the astonishing broadcast as the planet-sized spacecraft approached their planet, the news only just reaching the public as 'official' channels had tried to block that news at first, hoping to avoid the panic already spreading as the massive craft neared their planet even as the broadcast began.

"Your champions have already reached Warworld, and while two of your champions have shown themselves barely capable, one is even now fighting for their life. If one, just one falls, your world, and your lives are forfeit to the Mighty Lord Mongul, who, I assure you, will collect. Prepare for your impending service. This won't take much longer," the alien assured those watching.

Those watching comprised over ninety percent of the vastly wired and digital world the planet had become.

The anticipated chaos and hysteria began soon after as the image of the alien was then replaced with the Amazon from the volcano fighting two massively muscled bovine women who were doing their best to pound her into the ground with huge hammers.

Amanda Waller turned to her compatriot in Cadmus, and asked, "What about the Suicide Squad? Are they ready?"

"Even if they were, we couldn't reach that thing until it was literally on top of us. Who else is out there? I didn't get a briefing from Captain Atom before he took off."

"Damn it, Eiling," the stocky woman growled. "You were the one that put him in place just to keep tabs on those freelancing vigilantes. Now we have an unknown fighting for the future of our planet, and you don't know who else is even out there?"

"I know Atom is. Obviously, the Martian, since that freak mentioned two winners. I have to think at least one more if the implication is the Amazon isn't the last champion."

The cocoa-skinned woman paused to eye the screen where Diana had unexpected lunged backward, somersaulting so the hammer blow meant to finish her off landed square on one of the twin bovine's thick skulls.

The second bovine went down hard. The first bawled in rage as it dropped her hammer, and began blindly charging the Amazon with bunched fists. It was a flawed strategy. The Amazon ducked and weaved, and landed obviously brutal blows on her still standing opponent whose strength was now negated by Diana's speed.

"A shame these people had not joined the proper institutions," Wade grumbled. "We could have used them. Directed them."

"I'd think the Corps has enough mindless robots," Amanda quipped. "Still, I am curious. Do you think X-1 is up there."

Wade scowled.

"For all we know, he brought this Mongul here."

Amanda shook her head. "I find it unlikely."

"You're defending that creature now?"

"To his credit, he has not….reacted anywhere near what we feared, or expected. Still, like you, I don't like the idea of that kind of power remaining undirected. All the same, I suspect he must be up there with the others. It would be like him since he seems to be guided by 'heroic' impulses as yet."

"I still wonder if Lane knows more than she's saying."

"If Lois Lane knew anything, it would be all over the front page of that rag she works for by now," Amanda snorted as she watched Diana suddenly launched herself at the reeling bovine, and flew across a quarter of the arena floor to slam the bovine into the nearest wall.

When Diana stepped back, the alien warrior staggered, took three steps, and fell on her face.

The obviously alien crowd in the stands roared with approval as Diana walked back, and lifted one of the fallen hammers laying in the dust.

She held the weapon in both hands, raising it over her head, and then slammed it down, breaking the long handle in half. She smirked as she flung the shattered haft aside, and kept the hammer with the much reduced handle, declaring, "Just my size," and walked back to where four others waited in the shadows.

"Who is that," Wade sputtered as he saw a masked man in green standing near the group that received Diana to congratulate her.

"This may be bigger than we realized," Amanda said, eyeing the apparent human in green. "Because I remember that uniform design from the old files."

Then the Martian stepped forward as his match was announced.

Not, however, before the unseen cameras allowed watchers to see that Superman was indeed in the group of champions.

Wade Eiling and Amanda Waller both only stared as Amanda considered what she had just discovered. That green-clad alien that had been discovered some years past was obviously not the only one wearing that curious uniform. There could well be an army out there. Just as her predecessors had feared.

**MoS**

J'onn J'onzz barely stepped into the arena, when he turned around, and walked back up to Kal-El.

"Your turn, my friend," he said, his opponent, a huge, reptilian with four arms suddenly sagged, and seemed to simply go to sleep.

"J'onn," Diana frowned.

"I convinced him not to fight. It was simple to convince him to hibernate once I tapped his mind, and realized he was barely sentient. He's apparently part of a still evolving race still subject to their instincts and primal impulses."

"That seems to describe much of humanity, too," Diana scoffed.

"No lectures, Princess," Hal drawled. "We're still in a no-man's land here. Let's stay focused."

"Agreed," Kal-El remarked, noting with a quick glance that Mongul was getting very agitated. His deeper than usual scowl judging by his earlier appearance suggested he was fast losing patience with his champions. "Let us end this now."

So saying, he stepped out of the alcove, and strode toward the center of the arena.

"Enough of the preliminaries," he shouted, his voice carrying easily. "Come, and face me, Mongul. If you are not merely a pretender to your title."

Almost on cue, the already irritated tyrant virtually growled as he lunged to his feet, and leapt down from his vantage point to land in the arena not nine feet from Kal-El.

"You humans have mocked me for the last time, pretender," he roared. "I have given you a chance to earn an honorable death, or to serve me until you die."

"Neither choice appeals," Kal-El retorted. "Which is why we forged the bargain we did. When I defeat you, you will depart here in peace."

"I'll rip you, and then your planet apart," Mongul swore, and the small amulet on his chest suddenly glowed bright yellow before it exploded with searing energy that blasted out to catch Kal-El full in the face.

He reeled, his companions gasping, and gasping again when they realized Kal-El reeled, but had not otherwise been harmed.

"Not bad," the Kryptonian smiled, and curled up one fist. "Your molecular structure is almost as dense as mine, so I'm reasonably certain you should survive this," he told him.

Right before an incredibly fast right slammed into Mongul's heavy jaw, and sent the tyrant flying up and out of the arena to slam into, and through his throne, before he continued his headlong flight to slam into a support post farther away.

He crashed half through the post before bouncing off it, and falling back into the arena to land in an unmoving heap.

The crowd went deathly silent as they all stared at the unbeatably laying in the dust before the Kryptonian who was slowly walking toward Mongul.

By the time Kal-El's measured steps had carried him to the alien, Mongul was starting to stir. He pushed himself to his knees, and looked up at Kal-El, his visage radiating fury more than anything else.

"No one….beats…..Mongul," he spat, coughing, and then spitting blood.

"There's always someone stronger," Kal-El told him. "Sure you want to drag this out? It can only end one way."

"You're right," Mongul growled with a cheerless laugh, and drew a long, curved dagger from behind his back, and slammed it into Kal-El's chest.

And frowned when the alien steel snapped like rotted wood from the force of the thrust when it impacted the hard chest.

"So. You are a true Kryptonian."

"I did say so," Kal-El nodded.

"You think you've won," Mongul gave a guttural snarl as Kal-El grabbed him by his throat, and pulled him upright. "This is only the beginning, Kryptonian," the yellow-skinned tyrant sneered. "There will be others coming. Many others. And then, after the _tests_ are done, and when the time is right, _he_ will come for you himself. And no one beats him. No one."

"Who? Who are you talking about," Kal-El asked with a frown, shoving the big alien back, and glaring at him.

Mongul recovered, and turned to face his subjects, raising his hands as if he had just won the day.

"My people, rejoice! Mongul has found a worthy opponent. One that will stay and fight in our stead in the greatest, and grandest battle yet to come. Behold, Apokolips' new challenger!"

Mongul turned and sneered at him.

"And may you last far shorter than even I did when you face its master."

"What do you mean," Diana asked as she and the others came up behind Kal-El. "Will you honor our victory, or not?"

"Oh, I will," Mongul sneered. "But he won't. Now, get off my planet. I've new games to find. New victims to crush," he spat, and turned and walked away.

"What the hell is Apokolips," Captain Atom asked.

"I know," Hal said somberly as he formed a new bubble around them, and rose into the sky as the crowds now seemed to cheer them as easily as they had booed earlier. "But you're not going to like it."

"Tell us everything," Kal-El told him. "For I don't recall anything of this Apokolips in my father's archives, extensive as they were."

"It's not a very pretty story," Hal told him. "And it doesn't have a happy ending. Nor will it if Darkseid is involved here," he said, leaving Warworld behind, and heading for Earth. Which wasn't very far away now, though the planetoid was now moving away, proving Mongul, at least, did keep his word.

"Superman is right," Diana called him. "Tell us everything."

"It began, I'm told, eons ago when the leader of a race that call themselves the New Gods first faced the master of Apokolips….."

**MoS**

"Did we win," Jimmy asked as the screens all went blank after that impressive punch from Superman sent the yellow giant flying. "Is it over?"

Lois was still staring at the window, where the shadow in the sky was getting smaller and smaller.

"I think so, Jimmy," Lois murmured, her gaze thoughtful. "Only…. I can't think it's really that simple. These things never are, you know."

"Huh?"

"Trust me," she told him, still musing over what she knew, and how much more she obviously didn't. There was a story out there, and she knew it was huge. She just didn't have any idea how to get it.

Yet.

**MoS**

Mongul sat in his private chambers brooding.

Since the Kryptonian had departed with his human cohorts, he had not said a word. Not eaten. He had done nothing. Simply brooded.

Never. Not since he first met Darkseid himself, had he ever been so handily beaten.

He. Mongul. Scourge of the galaxies. He had shattered worlds. Left others to tremble at just the hint of his passing. He had crushed more enemies than even he could remember. Yet that impossible Kryptonian in that garish costume had beaten him like he was a stripling.

"This…..is not over," he promised himself. Whatever else Darkseid had planned for that pathetic world, or its ilk, he would have his day yet. First, however, he had to plan. So he sat, thoughtful, and continued to brood.

**MoS**

"Batman," the colorfully clad Kryptonian spoke even as he landed behind the grim detective in the heart of the fabled Batcave.

The detective barely spared him a glance before turning back to study whatever was on the computer before him.

"Why are you here," he growled, not bothering to ask the obvious 'how' as Kal-El looked around, and a glimmer of an idea began to form as he considered what Batman had here.

"We need to speak. I know you heard what Green Lantern said of Darkseid, and his nefarious quest."

"I leave the cosmic matters to those that can handle them. Gotham is my primary concern. Just now, that means a seven foot meta that thinks he's a crocodile is threatening my city. You can see where I would prioritize."

"I understand that. I could assist you, if you like, but we do need to speak."

"Fine. Follow me," he said, and turned toward a receding ramp where a sleek, black boat shaped as much like a rocket as a bat sat near a recessed dock in one side of the massive cave that set under the huge, old manor house above.

"I could carry….."

Even though his opaque lenses in his mask, Kal-El could feel the potency of that glare.

"Or I could follow you," he amended, masking his faint smile as the man dropped down the final few feet to land in the cockpit of the boat that came to life with a shrill whine of rocket turbines even as he reached for the controls.

Kal-El easily shadowed the boat as it surged through the waters in a hollowed out cavern added to the original caverns from what he could see of the bored rock.

"So, talk," Batman growled as they left the cavern, and he turned to enter a huge harbor that led right up to the Gotham City docks on the far side.

Docks that were fed by the sewers, which was where he was headed.

Kal-El, who could easily hear him without the transceiver he was now wearing, continued without preamble.

"Considering what we are facing, I think J'onn is right. I should join the League."

"You hardly needed to invade my cave to tell me that," Batman grumbled, still annoyed at how easily the Kryptonian had tracked him down.

Not that he would ever admit that.

"No. But the rest of what I need to say required a personal audience," Kal-El told him. "I think we should go public. Formally. Let the people know who we are, and what we're doing….."

"You'd cause even more panic," the detective spat. "We barely put down the hysteria from Warworld showing up, and you want to add to it?"

"I'm not saying we tell them our battle plans, or the scope of what is coming. I do think we should let them know the League isn't a threat to them, or the nations' governments. We should let them know we are here to help spare the planet…..any threat. Whatever it might be, and from wherever it might originate."

Batman said nothing as he slowed the craft, and turned slightly away from the docks, heading toward a high wall where three, huge drainage pipes seemed to flow with fresh sewage at an alarming rate.

"Publicity stunts might be your forte," Batman shot back as he parked the boat to one side of the flowing drains, and raised a hand. "But I favor doing the job without stopping for media events every other minute."

A grapple fired, and Kal-El sighed as he followed Batman up and into the center drain as the man kept going without looking back.

"I'm not saying we hold press conferences every other day. I'm just saying we trust the public with our mandate. Let them know who we are….."

"Oh? You want to give our true identities, too, _Kent_," he growled. "Not that you are," he added just as quickly as an astonished Kal-El only stared at him as he hovered over the muck that Batman walked through as he studied a small GPS screen in his gloved hand. "Kent, that is. We both know that was an assumed name, and you likely have another one by now since Dr. Luthor's lackey 'killed' your last cover. I don't know it. Yet. But I will. I'm good at things like that," he quipped. "Just as I'm smart enough to know that going public is _not_ a good idea."

"I don't think….."

"You faced Cadmus," Batman stopped, and turned to eye him.

"Yes," Kal-El murmured, a little uneasy at how much Batman seemed to know without cause.

"Yet you still don't realize what they are. What they truly are."

"I saw enough to guess….."

"You're still not part of us. Not really. Or you'd know what Cadmus' primary goal is here, alien," Batman spat. "The meta I'm hunting. Killer Croc? He's a psychotic, and a cannibal. Huge. Strong. And, yes, a hybrid crocodile of sorts. He was one of Cadmus' early failures in genetic manipulation. They're not improving the race out there. They're trying to make ways to control us. All of us. Whatever their propaganda they hand out to their drones and pawns, Cadmus is about control. All of us lock-stepped, and marching in unison to one drummer."

"Who," Kal-El asked.

"Even I haven't figured that one out yet. I've been busy. Doing something about the day-to-day threats that endanger the little people down on this planet's surface, where you…..demigods sometimes forget to look."

"I see more than you realize," Kal-El scowled.

"I don't doubt it. But do you pay attention to details?"

"Your meta is twenty meters southeast of here. Alone, just now, but he's moving on an intercept pattern that suggests he's hunting."

Batman scowled, then looked down at his GPS.

"Take me to him," he demanded, and Kal-El scooped him up under the arms, and flew through the tunnels so fast that Batman's vision blurred before it settled back into a dull gray patina as his special lenses allowed him to use what little ambient lighting illuminated the tunnel around him.

"Just ahead, and to the right," Kal-El whispered now, conscious of their prey's own hearing. "Would you like….?"

Batman was already moving.

He swept forward, catching the hulking, scaly manbeast in the side, driving him back as the meta gave a very convincing feral roar as he reacted to the attack.

"Batman," Croc snarled. "I'm going to rip out your organs, and use your bones for toothpicks this time," he said, turning to face the cowled hero who stood before him, undaunted by the brute's size or strength.

Kal-El watched the powerless hero use skill and his own devices to attack the human crocodile, and was genuinely astonished to see the man use his own speed and proficiency to undermine the stronger meta's sheer power. Fast as Croc was, Batman was just a little faster. Strong as he was, Batman's martial strikes were supremely accurate, and tore roars of pain and rage from the human beast.

Only Batman was still only human.

Be it luck, or desperation, one of Croc's big fists slammed into the armored torso, and sent the grim detective flying to bounce off a low-hanging drainage pipe. Stunned, Batman was easy prey for the lumbering creature that charged him in the same instant Batman went flying.

Until Kal-El moved, putting himself between the two.

"I think it's my turn," he told Croc as the big manbeast drew up, and glared at him.

"What are you, a clown? That outfit sure belongs in a circus," he sneered.

"My outfit isn't the issue," Kal-El told him. "I suggest you surrender now. It'll be less painful."

"For you, maybe," the killer smiled a toothy grin. One filled with malignant intent.

Then he lunged, and clamped down his powerful jaws on Kal-El's right shoulder.

Before he backpedaled, wailing in pain as broken teeth dribbled from his bloody mouth as Kal-El shook his head, and eyed the remaining teeth.

"This is probably the most merciful thing to do with someone like you," he remarked, and dropped a light fist on the broad, thick skull, driving him to his knees into the reeking muck. He then lifted the unnatural humanoid up, and pried open those dangerous jaws, and began to deftly pluck out the sharp, lethal teeth that Croc obviously used to live up to his appellation.

"You all right," he asked as he continued his somber work on the unconscious manbeast as Batman walked up beside him to eye him.

"Peachy," came the curt grumble.

"I suppose you think I'm overstepping myself by removing the obvious danger from this beast?"

"You don't know how often I've wanted to do the same," Batman admitted, eyeing the last, bloody tooth to fall into the sewage as Kal-El then simply flung the limp body over one shoulder.

"Indeed," the Kryptonian murmured without so much as a hint of a smile. "So, where do we take him?"

"The cops can have him. I'm sending a message for pickup….."

"I thought you didn't get along with them," he remarked as they headed for the nearest exit from the sewers.

"I don't. But I have a….contact who will know where to send the police when I send a signal."

"Convenient," Kal-El murmured, and looked up at the manhole cover overhead. "Shall I take him up for you?"

"You might as well," Batman scowled.

"Would you like a hand," he asked, rising from the sewage, and betraying the fact not even the water seemed to have touched his boots. They didn't even appear damp.

Batman frowned at that one, but merely scowled, and headed for the rungs that led up the old, stone wall.

Kal-El did allow a faint smile at that, and then flew up, pushed the metal cover away, and then shifted his grip on Croc to rise up out of the open manhole, dragging the big meta behind him.

Batman wasn't far behind as he gracefully rose out of the manhole as if he had not just been slammed into unyielding metal by a creature ten times stronger.

"Ready to talk yet?"

"I don't think we have anything else to discuss," Batman spat.

"Then let me give you another perspective," Kal-El told him as he dropped Croc on the street beside the open drain as police cars already began to swarm them as if drawn by something else.

"I'm listening," Batman said as he ignored the police around them to raise an arm, and fire his grapple.

Kal-El easily rose into the air after him, ignoring the shouting police who were now swarming the block, and more than a few had weapons aimed at them, as much as at the unconscious, and now toothless meta.

"By going public, you also undermine Cadmus' subtle, but obviously effective claims that we are all a threat to the freedoms and security of the nation, or the world. We show people we are aiding them, and Cadmus cannot use your own silence and secrecy against you," Kal-El went on as he followed him.

Batman frowned as he now perched on a rooftop, watching the police bag Killer Croc rather than eyeing the alien that hovered in the air just beside him.

"You do make a valid point there," he finally conceded. "I'll consider your argument. Meanwhile, I would prefer if you didn't mention my cave. To anyone."

"Of course not, Bruce," Kal-El remarked a bit smugly, and when Batman spun around to glare at him, he found him gone.

Just gone.

He snorted, shook his head, and then muttered, "So that's what that feels like," he said, and didn't waste time searching the skies as he turned to finish his patrol of his city.

After all, whatever else happened, he still didn't trust even the League to protect his city half so well as he did. They had other concerns. He understood that. Only to him, it always came back to Gotham. His heart and soul remained here. It always would.

**MoS**

"Lois," a familiar voice drawled as the reporter turned so abruptly she almost fell as she gaped at the familiar hero just landing on her balcony beside her.

"Superman! Where have you been? What have you been doing? We thought you left Metropolis, and did you know that…..?"

"Slow down. I know you've got questions. I will try to answer those I can. First, however, I need a favor," he told her with a faint smile.

"A….favor? Anything," the brunette grinned.

"Good. Call James Olsen."

"Jimmy?"

"You're going to need him. I've got a story that is going to make your paper live up to its appellation. By tomorrow, everyone on the planet will be reading your story," he assured her.

"My story? What….story?"

"Trust me," Kal-El smiled at her again as she fumbled with a cell phone. "You're going to love it."

**MoS**

"'_The _Justice_ League_,'" Batman scowled, eyeing the banner on the Daily Planet that read, "_Justice League Unveiled! Saving Our Planet From Itself_!

"I think it's kind of catchy," Wally grinned as he lounged near the console, all but inhaling a bag of cookies.

"Reporters," Batman scowled, and turned from the monitor showing the online copy of the paper. "This is your doing, isn't it?"

"Actually," Kal-El said, walking over to read the story on the monitor. "I believe that addendum to your team logo was Ms. Lane's contribution to our public makeover."

"I find myself agreeing with Flash," J'onn stated in his sonorous tone, "Which, I know, is quite the surprise."

"To say the least," Diana agreed, but glanced over at Kal-El, and asked, "And did you find anything else out on this mysterious Darkseid? Is he really as bad as Green Lantern indicated?"

"Worse," Kal-El nodded. "This…..would-be ruler, as the Lantern indicated, obviously wants to rule everything, and anything he can't rule, is simply obliterated. Warworld is just one of his tools from what I was able to find out. He uses Mongul to flush out threats to his own power, and if anyone, or anything rises to challenge his own pawns, he then attacks them himself."

"That's not good. But how can you be so sure?"

"I…..have a guest at my place. Someone that was behing held on Warworld," Kal-El told them. "She used the chaos following our departure to break out, and follow us. Last night after I returned Ms. Lane and Mr. Olsen to Metropolis, we had a very long chat about Mongul, and what Darkseid is up to out there."

"You have a refugee from Warworld on Earth," Batman all but hissed.

"She was hardly a willing guest," Kal-El told him. "Besides," he smiled blandly. "You might like her. She's got almost as much attitude as you."

"Where is she now? When do we meet her," Diana asked.

"Now, if J'onn has the transporters repaired. I left her my transceiver, since I didn't require it to reach the Watchtower. I also think she would make another fine addition to our group."

"Another alien," Wally shrugged. "Why not? Seems you guys are crawling out of the woodwork lately."

All eyes went to the scarlet speedster as J'onn only sighed.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Just tell me, is she strong? Or gorgeous?"

"She's a warrior," a new voice drawled from behind them, the Martian having simply activated the transporter locked on Kal-El's beacon when he had mentioned it.

All of them turned to stare at the voluptuous woman. With wings.

Not quite as voluptuous as Diana, the redhead was still obviously well-built, powerfully muscle, and carried a mace that dangled from a belt at her side.

"A Thanagarian," J'onn murmured as he eyed her. "How surprising."

"Not so surprising as you, Martian. I heard the White Martians had wiped out your kind generations ago."

"They almost did," he agreed. "I am the last."

The woman gave a grunt, then muttered, "Then you might have some worth as a warrior."

"Why the mace," Wally blurted. "I mean, I figured a space-chick would have a ray-gun, or something cool. Not some old antiquated…"

Wally's howl echoed across the fourteen feet he moved to evade the sudden swing of the weapon that crackled with energy even as the Thanagarian wielded it.

"Shayera," Kal-El sighed.

"He seemed to require a demonstration," the redhead muttered sourly, eyeing the wiry hero.

"He's an idiot," Diana cut in, "But he's our idiot. What manner of weapon is your mace. I am guessing it is more than it seems?"

"All Thanagarian weapons use Nth metal," the winged woman smiled smugly. "It's the most powerful element in the cosmos, and can disrupt even magic."

"Magic," Kal-El frowned. "You're saying magic is real?"

"Magic. Gods. Demons. And more," Batman nodded. "Even I've faced some of them in my time."

"Intriguing," Kal-El murmured.

"Let's skip the lectures, and get to the introductions," Wally suggested. "I'm Flash," he told Shayera, returning to where he stood earlier in the blink of an eye.

"Obviously. Your women must be _sorely_ disappointed," Shayera remarked.

More than a few sniggers sounded as Wally blushed behind his mask.

"Let's get to the point of this meeting," Batman scowled. "We're told you know things about Darkseid," he fairly demanded of her.

"More than I wish, and less than you require," she replied cryptically. "I do know that Darkseid is a blight on the universe. A curse that even the best and most powerful warriors in existence have yet to best as yet. Frankly," she said, eyeing them, "I'm not sure you people have a chance does he decide to face you himself. You might beat a few of his drones. Maybe even some of his generals. But Darkseid? No one has ever faced him and lived except the Highfather."

"The who-what," Wally frowned.

"The ruler of the New Gods," Kal-El told them. "And, hopefully, allies, if we can somehow reach them in time to appeal to them for aid."

"Because we have a way to contact guys from outer space now," Wally asked uneasily.

"I do," Kal-El told them.

Batman eyed him coolly.

_Continued…_


	14. Chapter 14

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**14**

"So, Superman…."

"I favor Kal-El," he told Shayera as they stood on an observation deck, staring down at the planet below.

"I've heard everyone calling you Superman."

"I've heard a lot of them calling you Hawkgirl," he countered blandly.

"Point taken," she grimaced. "So, do you really think you can manage if Darkseid does come to Earth?"

Kal-El looked down at the globe, saying nothing as he studied the planet below.

"Kal?"

"I think his agents have already been here. There's a band of criminals calling themselves Intergang with very powerful weaponry, and rather….enigmatic backing. I thought at first they were related to Cadmus, but….. Now I wonder."

Shayera frowned.

"Why would Darkseid, scourge of the cosmos, bother with local thugs?"

"That's a very good question," Batman said as he walked out of the lift to join them. "Gotham has been having the same issues with….unnatural weapons of late. You really think they're coming from Darkseid?"

"Or his agents," Kal-El turned to nod at him.

"Unfortunately, that makes too much sense to deny. Or ignore. I'll have J'onn look into it. He's good at finding…..hidden patterns."

"Meanwhile, what about me," the Thanagarian asked. "You people were a bit close-mouthed when Kal-El here suggested I join you."

"No offense, but I'm not sure you'd fit," Batman grunted.

"Not fit? You've an adolescent that barely control himself. Several other aliens. A simpering sycophant from Oa, and a half dozen humans that wouldn't last five minutes in a real fight. Just where would I not fit," she demanded.

"She's got the attitude," Captain Atom declared as he walked onto the deck from a hatch across the chamber. "What's wrong, Batman. Afraid the aliens are starting to outnumber us mere humans on the team."

"_Mere_ humans," Batman turned to eye the manifestation of sentient energy pointedly.

"Don't let his bark bother you. Batman doesn't trust many."

Batman eyed the silver hero with a cool stare.

"Usually because they don't give cause to earn my trust," he countered.

"Ouch," the soldier pantomimed. "So, Superman….."

Kal-El only sighed.

"I just came up to tell you that Diana was hoping you'd take the de facto lead of our little band. She seems to think you've the right face, and attitude to put our proverbial best foot forward."

Kal-El did frown at hearing that.

"I honestly did not see myself as a leader, Captain. I would much prefer someone more experienced did so. I think I would be best served continuing to research our mutual concerns, and finding solutions for them."

"Says the man that knocked out that alien powerhouse with a single punch," Captain Atom grinned, making Batman eye the Kryptonian again.

"One punch?"

"I hardly knocked him out."

"It was close enough. You had him begging at the end."

"He didn't beg. I'm not even sure I truly beat him. I have the feeling we've not seen the last of Mongul."

"Nor do I," Shayera told them. "He is not known for giving up a fight. Especially when he feels his personal honor has been besmirched."

"Like having a handful of humans fly in, and making him look bad," Captain Atom asked.

"Exactly," Shayera nodded. "During my escape, I heard some of the guards saying Mongul had taken to his room. Allegedly to recover. That was _after_ he slaughtered half his personal advisors who got in his way."

"Sounds like a nice guy," Shayera was told by the somber detective.

"He's a monster. Even those so-called Guardians avoid him, but most feel that is due to the fact their rings don't handle anyone, or anything yellow all that well."

Batman made a soft murmuring sound as he recalled the Lantern mentioning a 'slight disadvantage' earlier when seeking their aid.

Kal-El, having learned much of Batman, and his character, said nothing at his thoughtful murmur.

"So, how do we go forward," Captain Atom asked. "You've always been the technical leader, if always behind the scenes," he told Batman. "But let's face it, we're stepping out into new territory here."

"Obviously," Batman grumbled dryly.

"The point is, the rest of us were talking, and we think Diana has a point. Superman would be a good 'face' for the League. He's a known hero in Metropolis, and after Warworld, the world knows him more than ever. I think we should promote him….."

"This isn't the military," Batman spat, then eyed Kal-El. "Just do what you want. I'm needed back in Gotham anyway."

"Need help," Kal-El asked him as the detective turned abruptly, and headed for the lift again.

"If I did, I'd ask," Batman spat before the door closed, and the lift carried him to the transporter.

"He never asks," Captain Atom advised him.

"I got that impression. He is a very…..formidable man," Superman nodded thoughtfully. "Admirable, too, in his way."

"Coming from a man that likely juggles boulders, that's saying something."

"I do not, Captain, juggle boulders," Kal-El remarked dryly. "Ready to return? Or do you wish to remain here for a time?"

Shayera glanced around, nodding, then said, "I think I'll stay. Try to meet some of the others here. Somehow, cozy as your little ice palace is, I think if I'm to be a part of this world for the time being, then I should meet some of its warriors."

"Of course," Kal-El nodded. "Have J'onn contact me if you wish to return. I'll be going down to continue work on the spacecraft. As well as several other….projects I'm overseeing."

"Spacecraft," Captain Atom asked.

"Hardly a ship of any worth," Shayera remarked. "It's just a short-range shuttle I….borrowed to escape Warworld. Kal-El thinks he can retrofit it so it can safely reach the New Gods."

"And you know where they are," Captain Atom asked, still uneasy about calling in outside help for their problems. Especially when they had yet to hear everything that might be involved in this alliance.

"Not yet. But I have Green Lantern working on the coordinates while I work on the ship," Kal-El told him. "By the time I think it's ready for deep space, I hope he'll have something for us to go on."

"You don't know where these….New Gods are," Captain Atom asked.

"I've hardly had cause to go looking," Shayera told him. "Besides, New Genesis is likely more closely guarded than Darkseid's own throne room since….."

"Since," Captain Atom frowned.

"It's said that New Genesis wasn't the first home for the New Gods. It's only speculation," the Thanagarian told him. "But I've heard Darkseid destroyed their homeworld, and drove them deeper into space when he first set his course on absolute dominion. Only the Highfather kept him from completely destroying their race. They say he's likely as strong as Darkseid, only….."

"Only?"

"To be honest, I've heard he's a bit of a pacifist," she scowled.

Captain Atom shook his head, gaping at her.

"Let me get this straight. We're going into space on suspect coordinates, to find a race that might, or might not help? And their leader is a pacifist?"

"Even if he will not directly intervene, he has to know something that might help us," Kal-El reasoned. "That, in itself, is worth the risk."

"And have we drawn lots for this suicide mission? Because I don't think I'll join this one," the silver hero scoffed.

Batman eyed him again.

"Actually, I would think you would be the perfect choice. You could face whatever mishaps might occur if something went wrong."

"The ship should be safe enough once I've completed the modifications," Kal-El assured them.

"All the same, I still doubt I'm the one that should go."

"We don't need to decide at once. I'll let you know when the ship is ready. That will time enough to put together a suitable envoy," Kal-El told them. "Now, as Shayera wishes to remain, I should be getting back to my own work. Good day, gentlemen."

The Thanagarian warrior watched him leave, and shook her head.

"Something on your mind?"

"Just…. He's every bit as reserved as any Kryptonian I ever heard about from my peoples' tales. I would think being raised on this planet as I was told, he would have been a bit more…..human."

Neither Batman, nor Captain Atom commented on that.

**MoS**

"I wasn't expecting you so soon," Guardian said as he looked up to find the colorfully clad Kryptonian standing where he shouldn't be. "How did you even get in here without setting off half the new alarms?"

"I tunneled in through the mountain, and then removed a section of decking. Even your minders didn't think to monitor solid rock."

"I wager they'll correct that oversight soon enough."

"Only if you tell them," Kal-El remarked, walked over to eye the shelf with a collection of old books on it. Very old books.

"Interesting selection."

"I like to think anyone can improve their mind with just a little effort. Even over-the-hill cloned cops," he smiled in self-deprecation, not currently wearing his mask.

"I was merely making a comment."

"So noted. Well, then," Harper closed his current book he had been reading since it was his 'down time,' and rose from his cot.

In fact, he had had a lot of down time lately. Especially after Dr. Luthor vanished, and the Pentagon overseers had come to investigate just exactly what he might have been doing under their proverbial noses.

They had, to the last man, been horrified by the Vault. Some suggested closing it permanently. After cutting off all life support.

"You are obviously wondering what brought me? I've got a few solutions that have come to mind in regard to your friends. I thought I would let you give them the choices I've deduced, and let them make up their own minds."

"That would be a first for us."

"Undoubtedly."

"So, what did you come up with?"

"My first idea was an uninhabited island where they might be able to live in peace."

Jim's left brow rose in an obvious skeptical gesture.

"Indeed," Kal-El nodded. "Which is why I also mapped out several very large, but potentially isolated caverns where some of them might favor going."

"So, we trade one underground cell for another?"

"As I said, it is only my initial brain-storming. I'm also about to leave the planet for a time. I'm not sure how long, but…. It is possible I might find world that are not only habitable, but favorable for some of them. That, of course, is contingent on what I find. Still, I thought I should let you know the status of my research to date," he said, and handed Guardian the topographical maps he held out. "Since some of the best caverns are not far from here, and yet isolated enough you could cut them off from Cadmus once those that departed, if they wished, did so."

Guardian took the maps with the geological markings on them, and gave them a brief glance.

"I'll let the guys know what you're up to, but what if we need help getting those that want to go, if any do, and you're….away?"

"Call Connor. I'm going to see him next. He's staying in the vicinity for reasons of his own, and I'm going to ask him to help keep an eye on all of you until my return."

"And you think he'd risk coming back…..?"

"He'd do it just to stick a very large thumb in a few eyes. Not necessarily proverbially."

"Yes, I noted he was…..indignant when he woke up and realized what was going on."

"Any true sentient being would be," Kal-El told him.

"Touché. All right. I'll meet with the others, and see what they decide. Still, there are a lot of them that won't be able to leave. They have special needs. You saw…."

"I'm not finished. You may be sure of that. Tell them my word stands. I will aid all who wish it before I am finished here."

"If you make it back."

"I will be back," Kal-El told him firmly. "The journey isn't that dangerous. It's more a….diplomatic envoy."

"Into space," Jim frowned.

Kal-El nodded.

"Precisely."

"You're not going to share the details?"

"Hopefully, things will evolve so that you need not know. If they do, however, nothing I can tell you would help."

"That's not cryptic at all," Guardian complained.

"What's not cryptic," a sentry demanded as he strode into the door, and Jim realized only then that Kal-El had already vanished without notice.

"Ah, a passage in the Stoic philosophy text I was pondering," he told the man quickly. "Something I can do to help you?"

"We're short-handed on shifts since so many were hurt in that….break-in," the man told him. "Dr. Harrison wants you back on rotating shifts."

"I thought he was the one that didn't trust me any longer," he drawled.

"Hey, you know these docs," the man shrugged.

"Unfortunately, I do," he murmured, and reached for his mask, and shield.

"Besides, Harrison isn't in charge any longer."

"No?"

"They sent in a new guy. A real nut-job, if you ask me. Donovan, I think he's called. Dabney Donovan, if you can believe that."

Guardian didn't comment. In his mind, all the scientists in this institution had to be a little off just to work here. That didn't surprise him at all.

**MoS**

"Nice place," Kal-El remarked as he flew in through the open window of the second floor apartment bedroom where Connor was sprawled on an old, ragged chair eyeing a book with a dark frown.

"Hey, Supes," he grinned. "What brings you down here slumming?"

Kal-El eyed the place, the very unkempt piles of clothing, trash, and general messiness, and eyed the young clone.

"Hey, you might not believe me, but I like this. It feels….right to me."

"I'll take your word for it. As to what brought me here, I need to ask you a favor," he told him.

"Me? Wow, I'm flattered, but what can this cheap knock-off do for you, big guy?"

"I need you to keep an eye on things while I'm away….."

"Away," Connor asked, closing his book to sit up with a gleam of interest in his eyes.

"Off the planet."

"So when you say things," he asked, somewhat more somberly now as he realized what Kal-El was saying.

"Cadmus. I'm not convinced they are going to change just because Dr. Luthor is….out of the picture. I've reservations about the new director they've chosen, too. He says all the right things in front of the press, but….."

"Bad vibes? I get you, Supes."

Kal-El sighed.

"I told the other clones we would help them. Contact Jim Harper if you need to know anything, or he might call you?"

"Uh, hello? How?"

Kal-El held out a small transceiver.

"I borrowed some of the Justice League tech. Don't worry, this frequency is encrypted so only you or Harper can use it."

"Okay. So, where are you going, and how long? I mean…."

"It's complicated," Kal-El told him, then gave a quick summary of the mission to New Genesis that was forming up before him.

"But that's not all. Is it," Connor asked knowingly.

"Do you read minds now?"

"Hardly. But spending a week in public school and watching others, I'm fast figuring out when someone isn't saying something."

"This is, of course, a side issue, but….. I have learned that our course will take us close to the system where Krypton was located."

"Your home," Connor nodded.

"Technically, yours, too. I know, logically, that there isn't going to be anything left. The suggested devastation, and all the models indicate the planet was likely completely destroyed."

"But you have to see?"

"There's the possibility that someone survived," Kal-El nodded.

"You mean someone else," Connor allowed a faint smile.

"Maybe they're still out there. Waiting for help. I have to find out. I have to see."

"I can see that. Don't worry," he said, and pocketed the transceiver. "I'll stay on top of Cadmus, and watch over the city. Superboy is on the job," he winked.

"Superboy," Kal-El grimaced.

"It seemed to fit. That's what your babe at the Planet called me when we met."

"My….babe?"

"Lois Lane? Man, I'm telling you, if I was just ten years older….."

Kal-El merely eyed him.

"Or not."

"I am not being proprietary, Connor. I'm reminding you to be careful. We still don't know all the implications of your hybrid DNA, but I know that mine would be lethal if I attempted reproduction with a human."

"Say what," Connor rasped.

Kal-El only nodded.

"That tanks so much I can't even begin to say how much that tanks," Connor declared.

"Irrelevancies aside, I would prefer you don't let anyone know I am…..away. I've upgraded my security at home, but I would favor no one tried testing it wile I was gone."

"But I can still get in for studying?"

"Of course. Your genetic coding is the key to entry. Only those with Kryptonian genes can now get into my home without my personal presence. A safeguard against….unwanted visitors."

"Getting many of those, were you?"

"You might be surprised. Then again, perhaps not," he added as Connor only smirked.

"So, when are you leaving?"

"I'm still waiting for Batman to finish screening candidates for the envoy. He is a man obsessed with details, so it is still taking longer than expected."

"You mean he's a….."

"He's careful. I respect that. Consider what we're up against here."

"And you really think those Intergang guys are tied into it?"

"It's more than possible."

"I'm just saying, Lois is chasing them right now for her paper. Maybe I should be keeping an eye on her, too. Just to ensure she doesn't get in over her….."

"I'm not your keeper, Connor," he told him as he turned back toward the window. "I'm just reminding you to be careful. They're bound to still be after you, too."

"Which is why I hope no one saw you come in," he nodded. "I'm supposed to be just an ordinary emancipated teen living in this dump alone."

Kal-El gave him a faint smirk of his own, and was gone in the same instant with just a rush of air that stirred the mess around him.

"Showoff," Connor growled, and walked to the window, tossing his history book aside, all thoughts of exams forgotten as he stared out past the crumbling apartment at the city as he absorbed all Kal-El had dropped on him.

**MoS**

"Any word?"

"On what," Amanda demanded at the woman turned from her endless stream of reports to eye the general who had been haranguing her of late since she suggested that Captain Atom go along on the planned trip if only to keep Earth's interests foremost in mind. Especially as it was now known that the Kryptonian was definitely going along, too.

In fact, it was apparently revealed that the alien felt himself the only adequate pilot for the augmented ship he had apparently retrofitted after that winged alien had shown up with it.

"You know what I mean," Wade Eiling growled.

"Hardly. You seem to have as many concerns as I do. So, what are you referring to this time? The Darkseid issue the League is choosing to downplay so far? The readiness of the Suicide Squad? The X-Clones? X-1 himself? Cadmus' unveiling thanks to Luthor? You'll have to be a little more…..?"

"Don't be coy, woman," he growled. "They lifted off two days ago. Has there been any word from the team that went north to try to penetrate that crystal fortress of his?"

"Oh. That. They're already back."

"Already?"

"Weather conditions deteriorated the closer they got to the target," Amanda looked up from the file she was reading. "In short, any attempt to get near the place is met by conditions so extreme that it makes any progress impractical. If not lethal."

"He can harness weather now?"

"Haven't we been doing it for years?"

"Not on that scale. Nor half so successfully as he seems to manage by what you're saying," Wade complained.

"Well, he managed. We can't get near the place."

"And the young clone remains….."

"He's in the city."

"How can you be so sure," the general demanded.

She held up a copy of the latest Daily Planet.

"_Superboy Thwarts Intergang_!" the banner read.

The grizzled officer made a mutter of disgust as he eyed the overly ebullient grin on that creature's face that stared out of the photo as he stood atop the wreckage of what appeared to be some kind of sleek, futuristic tank.

"If we know he's in the area, why aren't we….?"

"You've obviously not been paying attention to the big picture, General Eiling," she told him with a somber glower. "With our heavy-hitters off-planet just now, this Superboy may be our only ace in the hole right now, since it seems that Superman's belief that Intergang is connected with this Darkseid might just be true."

"How can we be sure…..?"

"Our people confiscated the weaponry and tanks taken from the felons this time. It is definitely alien in origin. It also vanished less than fifteen minutes after we locked it away in an inaccessible vault."

"How can you….?"

"Fifteen minutes after the vault closed, motion sensors went off. We opened the door, and everything had vanished. Everything. Yet there was no sign of entry, and no sign of anyone coming, or going. It was all just gone."

"Damned aliens."

"Which only makes sense to leave this so-called Superboy in play, and give Intergang someone to shoot at. Either way, we might yet win. It might also buy us enough time for Captain Atom's team to return from….wherever they're going."

Wade Eiling's expression was suitably skeptical.

"Right now, it's our only real choice. Especially after Superman so blatantly exposed Cadmus to the public with his little raid on our labs."

The general said nothing as he continued to stare at the photo more than the headline.

"General?"

"Do you realize how long it's been? The boy isn't deteriorating like X-2. He's stable. The hybridization worked. If we could bring him in….."

"Recall his own breakout. I don't think we're bringing him in without serious backup just now. And as I said, right now, he's our secret weapon. Even if he doesn't realize it."

"And afterward," Wade snapped.

"Afterward," Amanda Waller smiled coldly. "We're still following the mandate given us when we first started Cadmus. Protecting the planet remains our number one priority. If we can exploit these pawns, fine. Once they cease to be useful, however, then we move."

"Good."

"After, General Eiling. And only on my word."

He glared, but said nothing as he walked out of the small office, heading for his own.

X-3, stable, and viable. Had he been that way from the start? Or had the alien altered him while he was in his care? It would be very interesting to find out.

Once he had that wayward asset back where he belonged.

"Get me Lane," he barked into his own phone once he reached his office.

_Continued…._


	15. Chapter 15

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**15**

Kal-El ignored the four others strapped in behind him as he aimed the ship's nose at the wormhole his computers had already located, and targeted when he had been plotting the course to the likely location of New Genesis.

Behind him, Captain Atom looked bored.

Flash, the most unlikely candidate for this mission, looked terrified. Or at least uneasy the way he kept shifting in his restraints every other millisecond.

Diana looked composed, and as regal as her manner dictated, while J'onn J'onzz seemed to be meditating on whatever he was seeing beyond the portals that held his attention.

"Sooooooooo," Flash drew out not for the first time since leaving the solar system behind. "How long is this going to take?"

"As long as it takes," the Martian informed him dryly as Kal-El focused on the coordinates he was reviewing to ensure the optimal approach to the wormhole.

"So, did anyone notice Bats sent the same guys out that went to Warworld," Flash asked. "I mean, we got Wings back there," he said, stabbing a thumb at the closed hatch that led to engineering, "Instead of the Ring-Guy, but still….."

"Flash," Diana sighed. "Shut up."

"I believe Batman intended anyone that was watching us after our defeat of Mongul should continue to watch us as we departed," J'onn pointed out without taking his gaze off the stars cape beyond his portal. "Likely, he hoped that would give him time to prepare….other defenses in the hopes that their diverted gaze wouldn't be watching the rest of the team too closely."

"What rest of the team? We barely have a dozen guys….."

"Batman has been seeking others to join us," Diana told him, wondering if Flash really was that slow, or if he just slept through all their briefings. "Discreetly."

"He has," Captain Atom asked with a frown, obviously surprised himself.

"Yes," J'onn told him as the ship began to vibrate as it neared the wormhole.

"I wasn't told either," he pointed out.

"You were….busy," J'onn told him. "We didn't want to distract you from your primary duties."

"Right," the silvery hero murmured. "My….primary duties."

"I thought he worked with the League," Kal-El remarked, reaching for a series of controls he had yet to even touch as the shaking became more noticeable.

"He's been undercover with the possible backers of Cadmus," Diana told him, eyeing the man in question as she spoke. "We hoped to find out what was really going on behind the scenes, but we had to call him out prematurely when it looked like that creature might take more than us to put down."

"I see," Kal-El murmured, glancing back at Captain Atom even as he began to manipulate controls as the ship shook violently now.

"What's that," Flash howled. "I thought this thing was safe?"

"It is," Kal-El remarked blandly. "Provided the coordinates Shayera provided with Green Lantern's aid, we have a better than ninety-two percent chance of making it through the wormhole safely."

"Better than….? What?"

"He's joking, Flash," J'onn remarked in his own bland tone.

"Joking," the speedster rasped. "That did not sound funny. Not even close," he protested.

"Well, you'll forgive me if my attempts at humor and levity are not up to your standards," he told him. "Where I grew up, there wasn't much to laugh at?"

"That Krypton place…..?"

"Your military's research labs," Kal-El told him curtly, making Captain Atom glance his way again. "Or prison. At the time, I was hard-pressed to tell any difference."

"But….. How did they keep you….? I mean, you're….you," Flash sputtered.

"It's a long story. The Daily Planet only got part of it," J'onn assured him. "But Superman is on our side. He takes the planet's welfare as seriously as we do. Perhaps," he added somberly, eyeing the back of the Kryptonian's head, "More than most."

"Entering wormhole in five seconds," he reported. "You might want to recheck your restraints. This could get bumpy," he said as Shayera made her way out of engineering, and dropped into a seat to pull on her own restraining belts.

"I've got everything as smoothed out as it's going to be. Some of those modifications almost stumped me, but I think the energy flow is good, and the hypertrans-drive looks functional."

"Hyper-what," Flash asked.

"Later," Shayera barked, looking remarkable relaxed. "You might want to compose yourself, boy. First time transitions can be…..rough."

"Transi…?"

The howl torn from Wally's throat almost deafened them all as the ship blazed with energy, and dove right into the heart of the wormhole that seemed to flare open around them only as they entered it. There was a near blinding flash of light, and then hole, and ship were gone.

**MoS**

Connor flew down, and hovered just over the car where two men were trying to open the lock with a metal sliver.

"Lose your keys?" The two men looked up, eyes rounded, and turned and bolted without hesitation.

Connor flew around them, intercepted them, and hovered before them again.

"No, really, because that happens to me all the time. I mean, keys? Who remembers them all the time? Right? Right?"

The men stared up at him in panic, and then split up, one of them pulling a gun.

"Now, see, that's just not friendly," he said, and flashed down instantly to grab the man's hand, gun and all, and started to squeeze.

The man howled.

"I'd let go."

He let go, and Connor crushed the weapon into a shapeless blob.

"Ta-dah," he crowed, holding the man up in his free hand as he tossed the gun toward a nearby waste can. "Instant gun control. Am I good, or….? Oh, right," he said, and flew so fast after the other man that the one in his grip howled, and vomited.

He glared as he dropped in front of the second thief, and checked himself.

"You'd better be glad that didn't get on my jacket," he growled, and finding a discarded scrap of old, rusty fencing, bound the two men together inside, and flew them back to the car, and dropped them next to it.

"Hey, this yours," he asked the wide-eyed young man coming out of the brownstone to gape at him.

"Uh, yeah," he said, shutting off the alarm that had gone off belatedly on the late-model sedan.

"Thanks," Connor grinned. "I caught these two trying to break into it, and there's a gun two blocks that way in a trash can one of them had."

"In a trash can," the man sputtered as Connor started to rise back into the sky. "Are you nuts? What if some kid….?"

"Trust me," he grinned, tossing a salute at the young man who was still at least five years older than Connor appeared from the look of him. "No one will be using it again. Not without major recycling," he grinned, and sped off into the dark sky.

The man stared after him, then reached for his cell phone after he stared at the two men on the sidewalk wrapped up so tightly in that rusty fence wire that it looked like it would take a while to cut them out. Dialing 911, he tried to explain he wasn't joking, or playing a prank.

Across the street, hidden in shadow, two people watched from the alley.

"So that is _Superboy_," a voice drawled as special binoculars lowered once the boy was out of sight. "I'm not impressed."

"Are you nuts," the stocky man with the silver-haired woman sputtered. "Did you see him? He took those two out like…. Like…."

"Rest your feeble mind," the woman whose hair belied her age spat. "I saw enough to now that he is not anywhere near our Kryptonian friend's class. He was almost as fast, but he's not as strong, or as clever. For one, he obviously doesn't have his remarkable senses, or he would have spotted us," she sneered.

"But…."

"Be still. The information I've gotten from Cadmus will help, but I don't think we'll need much to stop this so-called hero. Just the right scenario," the woman smiled with an ethereal beauty that defied immediate description. "Come, we've work to do."

The man sighed, wished he had never joined Intergang, and followed.

It wasn't like he had a choice. Even before Bruno Mannheim took over, Intergang only had one retirement policy. The permanent kind. It had gotten worse since Bruno showed up with his new backers. The kind that really made you question your place in the world. Or the universe.

"Yes, boss," he called her, knowing she didn't like anyone using her name. Especially in public.

But it seemed that everyone in Intergang was weird of late. She just happened to be one of the weirder ones.

**MoS**

"Holy spit, what was that," Flash moaned as he finally lifted his head, and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Transition. We went between the bounds of the spatial realm you perceive as reality, to travel time and space between what are essentially dimensional folds."

"Say, what," Flash sputtered.

"Sorry," Kal-El went on. "That's as simple as I can explain it without getting bogged down in fourth-dimensional quantum theory."

"Uh, right," Flash murmured, shaking his head, and then wishing he hadn't.

He couldn't help but note that everyone else seemed already awake and aware.

"Don't feel bad," Shayera smiled at him. "I've known experienced warriors who still have trouble with transitions."

"Great," he muttered.

"The important thing is that we're on our way, and everything worked as well as Kal-El hoped," Diana told him.

Wally glanced out the nearest portal, and frowned.

"What happened to the stars?"

"We're between spatial boundaries," Captain Atom reminded him. "No stars, per se, and nothing you would want to stare at long anyway," he added, not even looking at the iridescent grayness beyond the ship.

"So, this thing can really…..do warp speed?"

"Warp speed," Kal-El frowned.

"This isn't a television show," J'onn told him. "We are not so much traveling faster than light, as we are simply traveling beyond….everything else."

"Everything, huh," Flash murmured. "Then how do we know where we're going? Or when we get there?"

"That's the job of the navigational computer," Kal-El told him. "Thankfully, this vessel had an adequate one already on board."

"It was Sp'l'loquan, it should be," the winged Thanagarian informed him. "It's why I took it, rather than any of the other heaps on Warworld."

"So, how did you end up on Warworld anyway," Diana asked.

"Long story," the redhead murmured ruefully.

"We seem to have time," Diana retorted.

Shayera eyed her, and shrugged.

"If you're really that interested, the short version is….I was exiled."

"Exiled?"

"I did something…..wrong. Well, wrong in my people's eyes."

"Yeah, what was that?"

"I tried to kill my commander," she told Flash in an irritated grumble.

"I assume you had cause?"

Shayera eyed Diana for a moment, but said nothing. She glanced to Kal-El, and Diana noted the direction of her gaze.

"I take it you've heard this one already?"

"Yes," Kal-El told her.

"You trust her?"

"I do."

Diana nodded.

"Good enough for me."

"Just like that," Flash sputtered.

"We cannot all be as suspicious as Batman," Diana reminded him.

"Princess," he snorted. "No one is as suspicious as Batman. So, Shayera, what made you try to kill your commander?"

"He gave orders I didn't like."

"Gave orders…. That's all?"

Shayera drew a deep breath.

"Thanagarians are warriors. We are raised from the nest to be warriors. We teeth on steel even before we are weaned."

"Ouch," Flash grimaced.

"It is a good way. It was a proud way," Shayera told him.

"What happened," Diana asked.

"We were taking a colony back from the egg-breaking Gordanians."

"Egg-breaking…..?"

"Let her finish," Captain Atom cut him off.

He had long felt that for the fastest man alive, the Flash could be more than a little slow.

Shayera eyed the silver-hued hero, then went on.

"The colony leaders were suspected of actively aiding the Gordanians against our people. Trading secrets for their own lives. My commander wanted an example made.

"That's common in war," Captain Atom remarked noncommittally.

"My commander wanted an….extreme example set. He not only wanted all the leaders executed, he wanted their families slain to the last babe."

"That's….."

"Barbaric," Diana finished for Flash, who seemed to have lost the ability to express himself just then.

"I won't deny that Thanagrians are savage in their own way. On Thanagar, especially against the Gordanians, you strike first, or you die. We are warriors, and don't question the life we lead. But to strike down babes and children? Even I could not do that."

"So you were exiled," J'onn said sympathetically.

"Only because they could not kill me," she sighed.

"Couldn't…..?"

"I was one of the elite corps of warriors that held the Polarians during the last invasion. I made lieutenant at my nest-mates's side by slaying more Gordanians in a single battle than our entire unit. I am…..a very good warrior."

"And you couldn't kill your commander?"

Shayera glared at Flash.

"It does seem peculiar for so accomplished a warrior."

"My commander is just as skilled as I. And….in the end, I couldn't strike the death blow. He was my nest-mate, after all. He would have father to our hatchlings. Instead, he was my executioner. He chose to shame me with exile, rather than grant me an honorable death."

"There is no shame in living," Kal-El told her. "So long as there is life, there is always hope."

_"Now_ you sound more human than Kryptonian," Shayera snorted.

"Even Krypton had life-appreciation…."

"They were just beyond xenophobic, and didn't appreciate life coming to them from beyond their own world," she reminded him.

Kal-El said nothing for a moment, and then nodded.

"That is true."

"So, they exiled you to Warworld?"

Shayera snorted at Flash again.

"Hardly. I was to be sent to a prison planet. Not wanting to face that hardship, I stole a long-range scout…"

"Grabbing ships seems a habit with you," Flash remarked. "You're not going to grab this one, and leave us stranded out here, are you?"

No one commented as Shayera now glared potently at him.

"I'm just saying….."

"I was two weeks out of Thanagarian space when I blundered into a slaver run. They damaged my ship in the battle, and true to form, the cowards overran me with sheer numbers. Just my luck they were selling fresh stock to Mongul's slave pens."

"Considering how that ended, it was fortunate for you," J'onn reminded her.

Shayera eyed the Martian, then nodded.

"Yes, you're right. I'm lucky you showed when you did, and were able to divert even Mongul long enough for me to break out, and find a ship that could get me past the security posts. As I told Kal-El, you have my gratitude. And, do you need it, my service at your side in any battles you yet face."

"We usually try _not_ to kill anyone," Flash told her, eyeing the mace she still carried.

"Sparing enemies is a good way to end up with a blade in your back," she told him.

"Well…"

"What Flash means," J'onn cut him off before he could say something inane. Again. "Is that humans, especially in the nation we reside, favor turning their criminals over to the courts for the Law to judge. If a death sentence is warranted, the courts decide. And carry out that judgment. Not individuals."

"And if they are trying to kill you?"

"We defend ourselves," Diana said pointedly, raising a clenched fist. "But there are few that can withstand our combined power. At least, so far. Of late….."

Her eyes went to Kal-El.

"And then there is this Darkseid character," Flash added, missing her troubled expression.

"How is it this Darkseid never attacked your people?"

"He tried. Once," Shayera told Captain Atom. "We are one of the few, the very few planets to successfully drive him back. Since we were no real threat to his campaign, and had nothing to do with it, he turned his attention elsewhere."

"Wait. Your people drove him off?"

"Nth metal," she reminded Flash. "It is far more powerful than you realize. My weapon can disrupt even magical forces, and is likely powerful enough to even slow down Kal-El if used properly."

"Really," Captain Atom murmured as he glanced at the mace.

"Even you," Shayera added, eyeing the hero.

Captain Atom said nothing to that.

"All right. We are on course, and should exit the wormhole in….. .three hours. I suggest we rest. Eat if you wish nourishment. I will be in the engineering section ensuring the transition did no unexpected damage. Try not to touch anything," Kal-El added as he rose, looking pointedly at Flash.

"What? Why does everyone always think I…..?"

"Just don't touch anything," J'onn told him firmly as Kal-El walked past them toward the hatch.

"I could use a bite," Flash grumbled. "Anyone else."

"Coffee sounds good," Diana agreed, rising with him as Kal-El disappeared through the engineering hatch. "Shayera?"

"I'll watch the instruments for now. Just in case," she told them as J'onn made no move to leave.

"I'll be in engineering with….Superman," Captain Atom murmured as he stood up. "There's a few things I would like to discuss with him."

"So," Shayera asked as she took Kal-El's seat, and glanced back at the Martian. "What's on your mind?"

"What makes you think….?"

"I'm a warrior. Not an idiot. I imagine your Batman has questions he expects you to answer for him."

"Batman is a very careful man. His concern, however, is more with Kal-El than you."

"Really? Why's that," she asked carelessly.

"Because so far as we know, you aren't as unstoppable as a Kryptonian."

Shayera grinned.

"Do you know my people once tried to approach Krypton. We thought a planet of isolationist scientists would be easy prey to add to our empire."

"I take it you were wrong?"

"We never saw them. Not one soul. Their tech kept our entire fleet out of their system. Just their tech. Robotic defenses the like even we had never seen."

"You've a point, I'm guessing?"

"Oh, yes. Superman…. Kal-El…. Is likely as Kryptonian as any of his forebears. Powerful as they were, they were made even more powerful because of their minds. Their technology. If you think his personal power is unbeatable, your paranoid friend is going to hate knowing that Kal-El has all the knowledge and history of his homeworld at his fingers."

"I know."

"And your Batman isn't worried over that?"

"I've not told him."

Shayera looked at the stoic Martian, and chortled.

"So, the mind-reader can keep secrets," she drawled.

"I do not read minds carelessly. It's a privacy issue I do not like to violate."

"Without cause?"

"Without cause," he nodded.

"I'll warn you now, Martian," she told him. "I've faced telepaths before, so you shouldn't trespass unbidden. My mind can be….dangerous for your kind."

"Then it is just as well I do not feel the need to try," J'onn smiled blandly at her.

Shayera just grunted, and turned to eye the instruments before her.

_Continued…._


	16. Chapter 16

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story By Twisted-Wun & LJ58**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**16**

"You don't want to do this," the voice said in an ominous tone as the man spun around to find himself staring into shadows.

"Damn it," he hissed, turning back to the safe he was trying to open. "Now I'm hearing things."

"No. You're not," the grim tone hissed in his ear as he was pulled around, and saw a gloved fist coming at his face just before he lost consciousness.

"I'm in," Batman growled as he walked past the unconscious man. "You might alert security that there's a safecracker on the fourth floor. Run-of-the-mill sort from the look of him."

"Nothing like that feline freak that's been mentioned lately," the voice in his ear asked curiously.

"Not even close…."

Batman spun around, hearing a faint rustle of movement where none should be.

"Hold that thought."

He clung to the shadows as he approached the main vault on the floor, and saw a woman not trying to crack that heavy door, but slicing a glass display case covering a golden statue of Bast.

"Don't worry, goddess," she was cooing to the figurine of a humanoid cat in Egyptian garb, and carrying what appeared to be a staff and a bow. "You'll soon be free."

"And you'll soon be in a prison," he told the woman in a very form-fitting, leather garment with a stylized tail attached. She even had cat ears atop the mask, and when she turned to eye him, one hand deftly lifting the statue from the case after the circular hole had been cut with apparently diamond-tipped claws, she only smiled.

"Batman," she all but purred. "I see the press hasn't been quite as accurate as it should be. You look….yummy," the woman smiled as she actually licked her lips, and dropped the statue into a leather pouch on her shoulder.

"That doesn't belong to you," he growled. "Put it back, and we can make arrangements….."

"No, no, no," she laughed, and stepped forward, no fear showing in those bright eyes fixed on him. "The goddess doesn't belong in a dusty museum. She's got to be free. To show the world her blessings. I insist."

"Sounds like just another excuse for robbery," he spat, raising curled fists.

The woman only chortled.

"Oh, Batman, you have no idea what I'm doing. But you will," she said, and before he realized it, she had seemed to tumble forward, only to somersault toward him so fast he barely blocked the simultaneous kicks from her surprisingly high boots as she turned, spun on one wrist, and tried to kick him in the face with a heel.

He blocked one kick, the second, and just barely dodged the last.

She was, he realized, very good.

The woman stood before him, head cocked to one side, and he had the inordinate feeling that she really was somehow channeling a cat's spirit as she stood there smirking at him with what seemed a playful grin.

"Surely we're not done already," she cooed.

"Not even close," he growled, and surged forward, anticipating the apparently modified savate moves, but not the backspin that put an elbow in his chest, and left him bent over, and prey to a simple judo throw in spite of his body armor.

The woman was not only fast, she was stronger than she looked.

He managed to avoid landing on his backside as he kept his fall going, spinning to land in a crouch, and rose to eye the woman who had simply stepped back to watch him again.

"Not bad, lover," she beamed. "What's your next move? I'm just dripping with anticipation."

"I am not your lover," he growled, switching off the transceiver considering where this woman was taking this conversation, and who was listening.

"Well, the night is young," she cooed, and broke and ran right at him.

He fended off her suddenly savage and blinding assault, conscious of those diamond-tipped nails that left scores on his body armor. By the time the exchange was complete, and he spun around to prepare for her next assualt, he was hearing the shattering of glass, and raced to a window to stare out over the city.

And couldn't see a single trace of the woman. It was as if she had literally vanished. To a man that specialized in coming and going unseen, it was an unnerving moment as he realized just how quickly she had managed to disappear right in front of him.

With her stolen goods.

"Catwoman," he growled, the faintest degree of admiration in his tone as he looked out over the dark city beyond the shattered window.

**MoS**

Close to the nineteen hour mark into the wormhole, Shayera had come back to watch the instruments as Kal-El continued to do various work about the ship that only he knew, or understood. Even she found it vaguely suspicious that he only did that work when alone.

Nor did he discuss it. He merely dismissed it as precautionary peripherals. Which, of course, meant nothing to any of them.

Being used to working under superiors that rarely shared their full plans, she said little to him. Until she sat down, and noted a light blinking, and stabbed an intercom.

"Kal-El, our course is deviating. Is something wrong with the autopilot?"

"How is it deviating," came his bland reply as if distracted by something.

"It's changing our course by more than fifteen degrees," she told him urgently. "We're completely off track from the New Genesis route."

"I'll be right there," he said, and with a rush of air, he was suddenly there, gesturing for to move aside as he took the pilot's chair.

He sat down, but didn't reset the navigational coordinates. Instead, he was checking one of the devices she realized he had been working on for the past nineteen hours since they first wet out.

"What is that," she asked as she realized it was no longer dark, but now blinking with several green lights that suggested it was an active device, and not merely an experiment.

"Long ranger scanner," he told her. "It's picking up a transmission. Faint, but is are there. It's a Kryptonian distress marker. That's why the autopilot set the course correction."

"Correction," she sputtered, wishing some of the others were up here with them. Maybe they would have gotten more out of him, because he wasn't making sense. "From where? There's nothing out there," she waved in the direction of space beyond the ship's nose.

"But there was," he told her. "We're in the vicinity of Krypton's outer moons."

"Krypton," she exploded. "Kal, even I know there's nothing left of….."

"No. There isn't. But part of the outermost moon is still intact. And it's there that the life signs were detected."

"You planned this from the start, didn't you," Shayera accused him.

Kal-El eyed her, then nodded.

"Of course, I did. Did you think I would come within a handful of parsecs from my world, and not try to investigate?"

"But the residual radiation? Even I know…."

He glanced around.

"I wear a specially designed uniform interwoven with lead fibers made especially to protect me from the more intense radiation of the fragmented minerals the press now calls Kryptonite," he told her. "In addition, I've been experimenting with a special serum that gives me some immunity to long term affects, so as long as I'm not in direct contact for a prolonged period, I should be fine. I also retrofitted this ship so that its more than aptly insulated from any harmful radiations out there."

"That signal still doesn't mean…."

"At this distance, at that level, it may be nothing," he admitted. "It may be everything. I have to check. I have to know," he told her.

"I agree," J'onn said as he rose up through the ship's plating to materialize before him.

"Were you eavesdropping," Shayera accused.

"No. You left the intercom switched on," Diana told her as she stepped onto the bridge with Flash and Captain Atom.

"You really think there are more of your people out there?"

"I honestly don't know," he told Flash. "It might be an old signal. Still, it's a promising sign if something still has enough power to broadcast a stable distress beacon after all this time."

"Well, since we're already here, I say, go for it. It's the right thing to do," Flash said with surprising sincerity.

"I agree," Diana nodded.

"This could be just a wild goose chase. Our priority is….."

All eyes went to Captain Atom.

"Dude, we wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Superman. If he wants to take a side trip to see if he has any….family left, I say we let him."

Captain Atom eyed the colorfully clad hero who looked positively grim, and remarked, "You're going even if I protest."

"Wouldn't you, Captain," Kal-El asked him bluntly. "If it were one of your own?"

"It's two-to-one, Cap….."

"Three," J'onn told Flash.

"Three-to-one. Since we're still technically a democracy here, I say Superman goes. It is the right thing to do."

"You're not going to say anything?"

Shayera eyed the obvious military man, and considered his manner somewhat peculiar. Even for a human that apparently changed as he had.

"It's not my place. I was just concerned the ship was malfunctioning. It's obviously not."

"You're still part of the team," Diana told her. "You have a say….."

"Then I would say Superman deserves to find out if there is anyone left out there. If they do need help, it wouldn't be humane to fly on without at least trying to assist them."

"This from an alien warrior who claimed to be badder than all of us?"

"Thanagarians revere life just as much as you humans, Captain," she snapped. "Our ideals and culture might be different, but in that, we are much alike. I think," she added pointedly as she eyed him coolly.

"Fine. Do as you wish," Captain Atom told them. "But the moment we determine what is, or isn't out there, we get back on course for New Genesis."

"Agreed," Kal-El nodded. "I'll go down to the surface myself. With my spacesuit, I should be able to manage the conditions long enough to investigate, and return. You'll all be safest staying aboard."

"I'll accompany you," Captain Atom told him. "Even you shouldn't go out alone. You're our best chance of completing this mission, and let's face it, there's nothing out there that can harm me."

Kal-El nodded.

"I'm bringing us to the stable side of Argos nearest the beacon," he said, turning back to the controls, and switching off the auto-pilot now as they dramatically slowed, and the starscape beyond began to take on normal appearance.

"My…..God," Diana rasped, seeing the shattered quarter moon as they neared it, and saw the devastation that had cracked the small sphere like an egg. "How could anyone have survived that?"

"That's why I am here," Kal-El told her quietly. "To find out if they could. Or did," he said, maneuvering near a plateau overlooking what had obviously once been a grand city of sparkling crystal.

Until it had been crushed, and tilted on edge like a child's toy in a massive hand.

"And….Krypton," Diana asked him as Kal-El studied the devices before him.

"Only rubble. Nothing of the planet itself remains. None of the other moons survived. Just this piece of Argos, the furthest, and biggest moon. It must have been out at the outer edge of its elliptical orbit for even this much to have even survived," he speculated.

"The sheer devastation," J'onn murmured. "Even Mars never faced this kind of cataclysm. Do you know….what happened?"

"I have a theory," Kal-El admitted as he landed the ship, and shut down the engines. "It is admittedly theory, though, based on my father's archives, and observations leading up to the end. Now is not the time for lectures, however. Even with our shielding, our time is limited. Rao is still dangerous if we remain in the vicinity too long."

"Rao," Flash frowned.

"The sun," Diana guessed, nothing the scanner displayed the location of the huge, red star that filled the screen like a bloated orb.

"Yes. If you are ready, Captain," Kal-El rose, and headed for the escape hatch without waiting.

"Right behind you," the man of energy murmured, and followed him.

**MoS**

"Batman? Batman, are you all right?"

"Of course, I am," came the low, curt growl over the transceiver when he activated it again.

"Did you find her? Was she the one you thought?"

"She was….something," Batman replied wryly to his new partner, even if just now he was confined to the cave. When he could manage it.

"When you say 'something,'" the young man's blatant amusement came in audibly in his tone.

"She's not an ordinary thief. In fact, she might well have an active metagene," he told him. "We definitely need to do more research on that end. There are more and more super-powered beings cropping up everywhere of late. Even in Gotham."

"I hear there's an expert in the field working at Star Labs over in Metropolis."

"Dr. Emil Hamilton. I've read his work."

"Of course, you've read everyone's work," came the droll reply.

"I hope you've read your own homework for the evening," Batman replied as he left the building, and headed for the camouflaged Batmobile as 'Robin' had called it five seconds after he saw the sleek, jet-powered car.

"Already done," came the smug reply. "So, give. Was she hot?"

"I think you're too young to even be thinking about that kind of thing."

"Jeez, Bats," the boy huffed. "I'm thirteen. Not three!"

"Robin, don't ever call me Bats again," came the chilling retort.

"Yes, sir," Robin audibly backpedaled at the rebuke.

Batman slid into the car, assessed the police broadcasts, and headed for a trouble spot. "I'm heading for the docks. Tie in any area street-cams, and show me what's happening down there."

"Right," Robin told him, sounding eager for any diversion just then.

Bruce Wayne, however, was still putting things together that stunned him.

It was subtle. Barely noticeable, but he had smelled that perfume before. Seen that uncanny grace in another body.

Catwoman, he realized, was the socialite Selina Kyle. An avid activist for certain causes that just happened to focus on animals. Especially cats.

So, he asked himself, what did he do with that knowledge?

**MoS**

"It looks like we came all this way for a well-preserved corpse," Captain Atom quipped grimly as he eyed the frosted tube that proved the source of the distress beacon.

There were several other tubes in the devastated ruin of the complex where it lay at a drunken angle, miraculously surviving whatever forces had shattered the others, leaving skeletal remains watching over the single survivor.

"No, she's alive," Kal-El told him, and began to disconnect wires and tubes to reset them to a portable battery pack that was part of his own life-support unit in his suit.

"Are you crazy, you can't….?"

"She's alive, in perfect stasis. Only she won't stay that way long," he cut Captain Atom off. "See those indicators? Power is almost gone, and the readouts suggests she is suffering from some residual radiation sickness. The tube's shielding wasn't good enough to completely protect her. Likely when this fragment orbited close enough to the remains of Krypton she was more directly exposed to the more lethal fragments there."

"And how are we supposed to…..?"

Kal-El lifted the tube, and cradled it gently over one shoulder.

"I'll improvise, Captain. She may well be the only other surviving Kryptonian in this universe. I will not write her off without trying to save her."

Captain Atom followed him, glaring at the hero's back, and knowing Ms. Waller, and especially General Eiling were not going to like this one bit. Another viable Kryptonian. A female? If they reproduced…..?

He said nothing as he followed the Kryptonian back up the sloping plateau to their ship.

Halfway up, they felt a huge rumbling, and the entire plateau shifted. Below them, what remained of that building collapse, and both of them stared back at it with grim expressions.

"Makes you almost believe in fate, doesn't it," Flash's voice cut in over the radio, proving they were still watching through their suit cameras. Not that Captain Atom needed one, but it helped him communicate since he needed the transceiver in the helmet.

"Kal-El," Shayera cut in now. "Your suit is showing critical levels of oxygen. You need to move."

"I'll hold my breath," he told her. "I need what's left for life support I shunted to the tube."

"Isn't she frozen," Captain Atom asked cynically.

"Of course not," Kal-El replied, then said no more as he took an audible gulp of air, and walked on up the slope with determined steps.

"So, how long can you hold your breath," Diana asked him curiously as he came out of the cargo hatch where he had hooked in the life-support tube to ensure it didn't fail.

"I don't know. I did spend a day under the sea investigating some very interesting volcanic rifts. I had little problem with that," he shrugged.

"A whole day," Flash exclaimed, glancing around him at the tube. "Wow. So, what now?"

"Now, we get out of here before the orbit carries us to close to the sun, or the fragments of Krypton," he told them. "Even I could tell the moon's orbit is obviously unstable considering the quakes we felt."

"Do you think she'll make it," Diana asked, looking back at the pale features of the female mostly masked by the frost inside that clear tube that was apparently stronger than it looked to have survived all this time.

"I'm going to try to give her every chance," he told her, and headed for the bridge after stripping away his suit, and leaving them behind.

No one saw the glare that Captain Atom gave the tube, or its occupant as he lingered in the hold as the rest of them headed for the bridge.

**MoS**

They were back on course, heading for New Genesis, when Kal-El noted the rising temperature in the cargo hold. Knowing that the girl was nowhere near ready to come out of the tube without serious medical attention waiting, he switched back to autopilot again, and headed for the hold.

Even he was surprised to find what he did.

"What are you doing," Kal-El demanded as he walked into the hold to find Captain Atom standing over the tube, his hands glowing brightly with golden energies he was feeding into the warming tube that was no longer quite as frosted.

"I'm giving her what she needs," he told her.

"What she….?"

"I may be a soldier, Superman," he told him. "But I'm not stupid. When I saw that red star back there, it took me about four seconds to realize our sun must be the source of a lot of your power and energy. It occurred to me that her chances might double if I gave her a concentrated does of that same solar energy you get from our sun."

"I'll admit, I didn't expect you to want to help. You seem to be….at odds with my presence, and…."

"I do have a lot of reservations with you," he admitted, his hands still radiating energies so intense that Kal-El could feel it himself, and felt a resurging of his own energy levels that had been flagging after that stop near Rao. And what had been Krypton. "Still, I appreciate you doing this. Even if I don't know why?"

"I think you know how I was….transformed."

"I've read the press releases," he nodded.

"They left a lot out," he said, his hands starting to fade now, and then flutter as he slowly ended the solar charge he had been giving the girl. "My wife was part of the experiment, which, I suspect you might realize the military buried. The research, and my wife. She was exposed to near lethal energies, but unlike me, she didn't transform. She just started dying."

"I'm sorry," Kal-El told him quietly.

"For twenty-five years, she's been in a life-support tube, barely alive, but then, not really alive. Just like this girl. When I saw her…."

"Twenty-five _years_," Kal-El frowned.

"There was a lot not in the press releases," he nodded at Kal-El's expression.

"So I gather. Of course, I see," he murmured after a moment as he walked over, checking the tube's readings now as he studied the results of the solar bath. Something he should have considered himself. "Your….backers use her continued survival to keep you following their orders, don't they."

"My….backers?"

"I haven't been with the League long, I know. But it takes little effort to realize you're more a spy than a colleague."

"Now, hold on….."

"As has been pointed out. I also have very good senses. I see and hear far more than most realize. Especially when I decide where and when to focus. So, yes, I know you are not truly committed to the League just now. Which is rather sad, considering your could be so much more," Kal-El went on.

Captain Atom simply stared at him.

"And have you told anyone of your….suspicions?"

"We all have secrets. I still have quite a few of my own. Which, I believe, is part of your superiors' problem with me."

Nathaniel glanced at the girl, then back at Kal-El.

"And now?"

"Let me give you part of my own perspective," Kal-El told him.

The Captain nodded.

"My powers aside, so far as I could tell, the only thing your superiors ever truly wanted from me was weaponry. The bigger, the better. At first, they felt I could somehow aid them in building better soldiers."

"Bio-genetic augmentation," he nodded, knowing that was the heart of the experiment that had essentially damned him. And his wife.

"Then, later, especially after they realized I knew, or had learned more than they anticipated, they hoped to exploit me for any technology that might put them ahead of your…..geopolitical rivals. Not merely in energy sources, social development, or the like. Again, their focus was on weapons."

"That is to be expected considering the power that we are now facing. Especially when the likes of Mongul comes calling," Captain Atom pointed out.

"Granted. However, think about it from my view, Captain. Would you hand a five year old the power you harness?"

"Of course not," he sputtered.

"Handing Kryptonian tech to your superiors would amount to the same thing. You would destroy yourselves inside a week with the technology I possess, or can build. Earth is just not ready for some of the things I can offer."

"Some of the things….?"

"What I can offer, I will. Medical advances. Environmental tech. Things that can help, and only help."

"My wife…. She's suffering Stage III radiation sickness. Would your….technology help her?"

Kal-El studied the man before he replied.

"We both know if she's been in stasis for so long, there are bound to be other….complications. However, you have my word, if I can help, I will. Once we return home. Is that sufficient to earn your trust?"

"So, this is a bribe," Captain Atom asked pointedly.

"No. I would aid anyone in need without resorting to bribes. I simply prefer not to have to keep looking over my shoulder for Cadmus' next distraction."

Nathaniel drew an instinctive breath, though he hardly needed to truly breathe, and nodded.

"All right. I'm in."

"Good," J'onn said without warning from behind him. "Perhaps you could start by telling us everything you know about Cadmus, and the Suicide Squad."

Captain Atom didn't even look surprised at the query.

"Eiling is not going to like this, but….I'll tell you all I can," he finally told the two who faced him over the body of still sleeping blonde.

_Continued… _


	17. Chapter 17

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

******Original Story by LJ58 (Inspired by Twisted-Wun)**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**17**

She woke abruptly, wracked by memories of fear and cold. Bitter, dark, unending cold. She looked around, but didn't recognize the chamber she was in as she rose from a narrow, metal cot, and noted she was still wearing her green body-stocking that had been all she had left in the end when they fled to Argos, hoping to escape the madness and chaos after Krypton had exploded.

She remembered the turmoil of those last days. Of hearing her parents talk about options that were fast running out even as they were mentioned. Of hearing that one moon after another was being shattered by the impacts of massive planetary fragments that were all that remained of Krypton.

And everywhere, people were sick and dying from the green sickness that drove most of the survivors into hysteria.

They were mad from pain and fear, and in that pain and fear, no one was safe.

Rather than focus on survival, far too many fueled the cacophony leading to the predicted death knell of an entire race. A death knell predicted, and ignored despite being raised by a family cousin who had tried to warn them all. In vain.

She stumbled to the door, stared in astonishment when it slid back at her approach, and stared past the panel at the strangers in garish costumes.

A woman with wild, green hair. A man as bald as he was hideous, and one who scowled like one of the madmen who had slain her father's friend when he had been trying to help.

She backed up, and gaped as she realized they weren't speaking a tongue that she knew, or had ever heard.

"Rao," she gasped, looking around, and seeing a pale, blue sky lit by twin yellow stars beyond the window, and realized this could not possibly be Argos.

She circled around the small group watching her as intently as she watched them, and reached for the door that did not open at her approach. It was on the wall with the window, though, so she was reasonably sure it had to be the way out.

She turned, looking quickly for a lever. A knob. Something. It was just a flat panel.

Her own rising fear had her banging on the door.

She was genuinely shocked with her small fist warped the thick panel, and a second blow knocked the damaged panel completely from whatever hinges or tracks held it.

The bald man was saying something to her, but she couldn't understand. She didn't bother to try to communicate. She turned, and fled.

Only to be once more surprised beyond measure when her flight had her traveling so fast the world seemed to blur around her.

She stopped, and realized she was at the far edge of a city that looked out across a vast, lush meadow filled with flowers that defied description. She stood and stared, then slowly looked up. The sky's two small suns lit the landscape in a manner she had never seen on Krypton. Not even on Argus, once a lovely oasis beyond the icy plains of her homeworld had ever looked this….green.

"Calm down," a voice called out to her in Kryptonian from behind.

And above.

She turned, staring up into the sky, and gaped as a tall, almost divine figure in primary colors hovered before her before landing.

"_Jor_-_El_," she rasped, turning to stare at the impossible figure. "Rao, did you make it, too? Where is Lara? What of….?"

"Slow down," the man smiled. "I am not Jor-El. I am Kal-El. His son," the man said as he walked toward her, some of those strangers behind him approaching on foot, and she glanced between them as she shook her head.

"Kal-El? But…. No. Kal is just a _baby._ He…."

"I grew up on a planet called Earth. It has been many years since Krypton died. I found you in a stasis pod on what remained of Argos."

"My….parents," she choked, looking around at the growing number of strangers.

"I'm sorry. You were the only survivor," he told her.

She said nothing as her blue eyes filled with tears, and her shoulders sagged.

"Can you tell me your name. Our hosts were concerned you might have suffered some problems in spite of the medical treatment that eased most of your obvious trauma."

"I…." She stared around her as the garishly clad people, humanoids for the most part, stopped just short of approaching her. Obviously giving her space. "I am Kara. Daughter of Zor-El."

Kal-El smiled warmly now.

"So, we are cousins. Quite the coincidence, it would seem."

"Is this….Earth," she asked, looking around the idyllic planet.

"No. This is New Genesis," a muscular man in red, wearing bio-armor told her in a tone that suggested he had seen hell, and spit in its face.

For amusement.

"New….Genesis?"

"I came here from Earth with several companions to seek aid against a threat that may well threaten our new home," Kal-El told her.

"Our….? So, they will….welcome me, too," she asked quietly, looking only at Kal-El now.

"Definitely, babe," a lean, young man in red with a curious sigil on his chest grinned.

Not that she understood a word he said.

"Try to behave, Flash," J'onn cut in. "The young woman in still in shock, and rightly so."

Kara stared around. "How is it none of these people speak Kryptonian, and yet you understood me," she turned to the armored warrior.

"I am Orion," the New God told her. "Son of the Highfather, and I used Motherbox to translate for us. Now, allow her to translate for you, too," he added.

"Mother….box," she frowned, and the man pulled off a small, rectangular box that chirped, and glittered with pulsing lights as he held it out.

"Motherbox is connected to the Source. She is a living, sentient being, just as we all are, and if you wish, she had aid you in learning your less….civilized companions' tongue."

"That might be….helpful," Kara murmured, but still hesitated about touching that curiously pinging device.

For a moment, it almost sounded….musical.

Then, steeling herself, she reached out, took the box, and felt a rush of warmth and security sweep over her as her head tingled slightly.

Even as her bodysuit suddenly wavered, and became a snug, blue replica of Kal-El's own costume, though with a much shorter cape.

"My clothing…..?"

"Motherbox can also alter your garments. Apparently, she detected your subconscious desire to emulate your cousin's uniform," Orion said with a faint smirk.

She held up the box as she heard Flash declared quite clearly, "Now _that_ is a super-babe!"

"Flash," the woman in the strangely abbreviated armor glowered.

"I….understand," she frowned as Orion took the living computer back from her hands.

"Motherbox is a living miracle. There is very little she cannot do," Orion told her.

"While we do appreciate your hospitality," Kal-El cut in, eyeing Kara, and then turning to speak to Orion. "When will we get to speak to your father."

"The Highfather will see you when he is ready. He is communing with the Source. He will not make any decision until he is finished."

Kara sighed.

"I do not understand any of this," she sighed.

"Don't feel bad," Flash moved abruptly, suddenly standing beside her with a wide grin. "I feel like that all the time around some of these guys."

Kara frowned at him.

"You are very…..childish," she told him.

"Yes, he is," Diana told her. "But he can be a good friend. We all wish to welcome you. Just as we welcomed _Superman_ to our ranks," she said, pointedly eyeing the Kryptonian.

"Superman," the girl giggled. "They call you….?"

"It's his hero name," Flash beamed, and stabbed a thumb at his chest. "I'm the Flash," he said, and zipped around her, then back. "See?"

Kara just stared at him.

"I am Diana. A warrior of the Amazons," she told her proudly.

"As we are introducing ourselves, I am J'onn J'onzz. The last of my race, too."

"He's a Martian," Kal-El told her as Kara eyed the green-hued humanoid who stood before her.

"Really? Wow. And what are you," she asked Shayera who had been standing back behind the others, saying nothing.

"I am Shayera Hol. Thanagarian," she finally told her when her new companions turned to eye her. "And recently a refugee on Earth, too."

"This Earth seems to collect quite a lot of….."

"Superman," Captain Atom floated down from the sky where he had just flown over to join them. "The Highfather is ready to see you."

"What's he," Kara frowned. "An android?"

"No. He's human," Kal-El told him. "He helped save your life," he added.

Kara stared at the silver man, and slowly nodded.

"Thank you," she murmured, and then turned to look back toward Kal-El.

"So, you have to see this Highfather to save your new planet, or we lose another home?"

"It is our hope to avoid that occurrence," J'onn answered when Kal-El only grimaced. "Which is why we are here."

"So, finding me was….an accident," she realized.

"Not…..quite," Diana smiled. "It seems Superman can be just as deceitful and manipulative as any other male in the universe."

"Huh?"

"He planned this trip around a visit to Krypton just to seek survivors," Captain Atom told her. "I believe he was planning that visit even before our emergency came up, but….it seemed our agendas dovetailed rather neatly, and so here we are."

"This way," Orion now cut in. "If the Highfather waits, we should go see what he has decided at once."

"Agreed," Diana nodded as they turned en masse to head back into the city.

"Let's just hope it's good news."

No one replied to Flash's comment.

**MoS**

"Any word from them," Black Canary asked as the blonde walked into the communications room where the hooded archer in green sat manning the console.

"Nothing. But, hey, I'm not the only one that thinks they all flew off into oblivion, songbird," he called her. "We're talking long odds here, and….."

"I see you're still overflowing with optimism," Dinah said, rolling her eyes.

"I prefer to consider myself a realist," he muttered.

"Then why did you join the League," she quipped. "Because this is just about as unreal as it gets. I mean, a floating headquarters in orbit. Aliens. Super villains. I keep waiting for someone to show up, and declare they are filming a reality show here."

"That was last week," Oliver Queen quipped. "You just missed casting."

Black Canary glowered, but said nothing.

"So, anything going on below?"

They both eyed the monitors that scanned the entire planet looking for hotspots.

"There was a new crime wave in Gotham, but Batboy says he has it covered. To, and I quote, 'Stay where we belong.'"

"Sounds like him. Doesn't give an inch, does he?"

"He makes Wildcat seem downright cheerful," he remarked, naming an aging hero who had been less than happy of his declining status as age caught up to the once tough crusader.

"Anything else," Dinah asked, studying the monitors herself.

"Surprisingly quiet, so far. If someone noticed the big guns were missing, no one is taking advantage of it. Yet. Even Central City has been quiet, which is surprising, too," Oliver smirked.

Black Canary understood.

Sometimes it seemed like Flash had more villains chasing him that Batman. Which was saying something.

"What about that Intergang lot Superman clued us about," she asked as she continued to study the monitors that spanned the globe below their orbiting headquarters.

"That new Superboy has been cleaning their clocks pretty regularly. For a kid, he's pretty tough. If a big raw, and careless at times."

"Careless," the career heroine frowned.

"He was so busy punching on some robots he almost let a bus load of kids smash into a fuel tanker. Fortunately Metropolis has attracted a few other heroes of late, too."

"More newbies?"

"Some clown in a metal suit. Calls himself _Steel_."

"Steel? You're kidding?"

"Metal suit? Seems to fit," Oliver shrugged.

The blonde simply shook her head.

"So, not one word from our envoy as yet," she asked again.

"Not yet. But Intergang has been laying low for the most part, so that's good news. Just the occasional high-tech robbery, and a few arms shipments."

"I don't know," Canary murmured. "Something about their actions seems…..orchestrated. Suppose we're not seeing everything."

"Like what," Green Arrow asked as Dinah walked over to the computer, and began to tap in commands.

"Like the connection I've already made," Batman said as he walked onto the bridge behind them. "Bring up the last intercepted shipment," he instructed her as Black Canary merely nodded over her shoulder, and plugged in the data.

"Now, correlate all known intercepts we've made," he instructed. "With every robbery."

"Good…..lord," Oliver rasped, seeing the truth himself as he stared at the points on the map. And the connections they made.

"They're not arming Intergang alone. They're using the robberies to divert us from their deliveries. They're arming the street gangs. All of them. Considering we've not gotten half of all likely shipments," Batman added, "Then we're looking at a potential attack that is being planned right under our noses if those gangs aren't already out there using those weapons. One that implies a prearranged signal. One that could be coming at any moment."

"If the gangs are cooperating on that kind of scale, it could be a slaughter," Dinah realized.

"I'd be more interested in knowing who has the muscle to force that kind of cooperation," Oliver put out, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Without Luthor…. Unless….he's back?"

"I've got the feeling he's really gone," Batman told them. "But someone else is out there. Someone very adept at pulling strings. If we don't find them, we could be facing a nationwide disaster, because the tri-city area would only be the launch for this attack."

"You're certain….? Of course you are," Arrow grumbled as he turned to eye Batman. "So, what do we do?"

"We need to get inside."

"How," Oliver asked.

"We have to bring someone in that knows the inner workings of the gangs, and can make them talk."

"Oh, no," Dinah grumbled. "Not her."

"We don't have a choice."

"Choice? Uhm, what are you two…..?"

"He's talking about Huntress," Dinah told him.

"You have to be kidding. She's tried to kill all of us at one time or another," the archer pointed out. "And since you pretty much dropped her on her proverbial, and literal backside the last time you met," he reminded Batman, "I don't see her being all that cooperative."

"She may be a bloodthirsty vigilante, but at heart, she does care about the people she champions. It's a gamble, but I think she'll stand with us this time."

"You said that the last time, and she tried to put an arrow in your back," Dinah retorted.

"No, she only pretended," he countered.

"Looked pretty real to me."

Batman glowered at the both of them.

"While I am good at evading attacks, have either of you ever known her to miss? Completely?"

"He's got us there," Oliver nodded agreement.

"So, how do we find her? Even I don't know who she really is. Let alone how to…."

"Break the ice yet, darling," a darkly clad woman in very form-fitting leather drawled as she sauntered into the chamber.

"You brought her up here," Dinah almost seethed now, eyeing the dark-haired woman openly carrying a crossbow on her back, and a belt she knew was loaded with lethal weaponry.

"We need to discuss our strategy."

"And you know how to Batman likes to…..control everything," Huntress purred.

Batman only glowered at her.

"Come with me. It's time we learned just what is going on behind the scenes."

Huntress tossed a mocking salute, but followed him.

They both paused to eye Dinah.

"Coming, Blondie? You're supposed to be my liaison, after all."

"I'm what," Black Canary hissed.

"You don't think I'd send her in alone without backup," Batman asked in a low growl.

"Or a watchdog," Huntress corrected with a faint querying tone.

Batman didn't reply as he turned, and led them to a conference room.

Oliver just sighed, and turned his attention back to the monitors.

"Suddenly, I'm glad to be on monitor duty this week," he murmured thoughtfully.

**MoS**

Connor looked up from the open history text, and stared out the window.

He didn't have super hearing like Kal, but he had a sense for things going wrong. Something, just now, felt wrong.

He glanced out the window again, seeing nothing, but couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Something, somewhere was going wrong.

He just knew it.

And he was stuck playing high school kid in this very boring class listening to a guy drone on and on about things that had no relevance to anything in his world.

When he first started school in his new 'cover,' he felt like it was a new adventure in and of itself. He was being a regular kid. Just another normal human being.

Then, he realized more and more he wasn't regular. Or normal.

Smashing through the Intergang thugs and their windup toys was proof of that.

Only he couldn't stop replaying that last battle in his head. Or the metal man's words.

"You almost let a bus load of innocent kids barbeque," the seven foot metal giant had growled at him after saving said kids during his face-off with the robo-brigade. "For what? To hammer a couple of robots? That is not being a hero. That is being a showoff. And we have enough showboats in this business," the armored man had told him. "If you want to be a real hero, and live up to the ideals we should represent, then you better get your priorities fixed."

He had flown off without even letting Connor respond.

Not that he had a reply. He had not even noticed the out of control bus. Never heard the screaming kids skidding toward death as their driver had been knocked out by flying debris after inadvertently entering a battle zone.

He forced his attention back to the text he was supposed to be reading when the teacher glanced his way, and gave a curt clearing of his throat as his way of warning you. His attention still wasn't on the book, though.

What had caught his attention?

Why?

It was almost as if…..

"Sir, I need to go to the restroom," Connor said, sitting up, raising his hand, and already heading for the door before he finished speaking. "Sorry, emergency," he said, and quickly headed down the hallway once he was out of the class.

He waited until he was in the restroom before he pulled the transceiver out his pocket, and pushed it into his ear.

"Superboy," he murmured.

"Good. Dubbilex got your attention," Jim Harper's voice sounded almost at once. "We have a situation."

"Define situation," he asked.

"Cadmus is talking about putting down some of the more extreme genomorphs in the Vault. They're arguing now, but Dabney wants them terminated by the end of the day. I think he's already made up his mind."

"Crap," Connor spat. "What can I do?"

"Before he left, Superman showed us some caverns in the area."

"Right. He told me about that."

"He also came in through a tunnel he dug to reach my quarters. If you can extend the tunnel to the Vault, and get them into the caverns before security finds out, I can divert them long enough for you to get those in danger out."

"I'm on my way," Connor said, and grateful he had carried his backpack with him, quickly changed into his now trademark black tee, and leather jacket.

Even as he was pushing a window open, a boy opened a stall, and stared as the teen flew away.

"Cool," the boy grinned, filming the hero flying off. "I am so going to post this on the web next period."

_Continued…_


	18. Chapter 18

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

******Original Story by LJ58 (Inspired by Twisted-Wun)**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**18**

He stepped out of the shadows even as the lights snapped on in the penthouse suite. The balcony doors were open, but he had already seen the shadowy figure step inside via the suite. He moved with the drapes, stepping forward, and yet staying in the remaining shadow as the woman padded through the living room, peeling off her mask as she headed for the back.

"Up late, Ms. Kyle," Batman growled.

The woman froze, spinning around, a look of genuine surprise on her features as she stared at the intruder.

"You!"

"Me," Batman growled. "Where is the artifact?" She slowly relaxed, smirking as she playfully swatted her own leather-clad thigh with her mask.

"Did you come for it? Or me?"

"Both. It's going back to the museum. You're going to jail."

"No, I don't think so."

"It's not a choice," Batman growled.

"No? Suppose I showed you something that made you….change your mind," she said, and slowly raised one hand to tug at the zipper at her throat, letting the leather catsuit part just enough to bare the pale, creamy flesh of her throat.

"You're not my type," Batman growled, and took a step forward, eyes narrowed on her hands, rather than the exposed column of her neck leading down toward her cleavage.

"Funny. I thought I was everyone's type," she purred, and preened before him. "Besides, that wasn't the offer I was making. Follow me," she said, and walked toward the short hall. Right toward the blank wall between two bedrooms.

Batman said nothing, but he followed.

Every muscle tense, and ready. His eyes assessing every move she made as she reached up to press a stud in an overhead vent.

The panel popped open, and she stepped into a dimly lit room that was just over six foot square. In the center was a raised, slender altar with obviously Egyptian hieroglyphics. Atop it was a small, stone replica of the missing statue. Only where the original had been some kind of gilded gold façade adorned with costly jewels, this one was simply stone. Plain, featureless stone. It no longer even held the staff and bow the original held.

"That's not the artifact," Batman growled.

"Actually, it is," Catwoman smiled. "I told you, I was freeing the goddess imprisoned within. You might call it, a quest I recently completed."

"I don't buy it," Batman shot back.

"No? Well, you missed your chance to meet the goddess before her departure," Selina smiled. "But she left me a gift. Want to see?"

Batman didn't have time to react as Selina crossed her arms in the same fashion as the stone statuette, and a faint, amber glow surrounded her like a pale aura. Even as her hands dropped, the woman was gone.

In her place stood a lithe, anthropomorphic feline holding a long, ironwood bo staff like the one the original statue had been depicted holding.

"How about now, Batboy," she asked, her voice a low growling purr as the melding of human and feline in that furred visage struck him as far too authentic to be faked.

"You're not the first shape-shifter, or meta I've encountered," he growled, and deftly palmed three small pellets, preparing for the fight he sensed was coming.

She chortled.

"Oh, Batman," she cooed. "I didn't realize you were so…..worldly," she laughed, and lunged forward.

Batman flung the pellets, two releasing a knockout gas, and one a fast-drying polymer designed to wrap around an opponent's limbs to incapacitate them.

Only Selina had not merely reacted.

She had acted.

Her lunge was a feint to allow her to use the staff to leap over him, and then she was somersaulting through the door, slamming it shut as he turned to stare at the seamless wall now imprisoning him.

And he had fallen for it.

He went to the door, and slid gloved hands over the panel, seeking a trigger. He ignored the gas still filling the room. He was wearing special nose filters in his cowl anyway. A lesson learned after one too many encounters with madmen that favored gases of their own.

He finally found the trigger, and pushed the opened panel out to burst into the hall.

As expected, Selina was already gone.

Walking back to the balcony, he stared around the city before him, ignoring the ominous clouds overheard, and scowled into the darkness.

Fast.

Skilled.

Devious.

A very real cat-woman.

"Catwoman, indeed," he murmured to himself.

Even as he pulled out a grapple, he heard the faint scrape of booted feet, and a small, wiry frame landed next to him.

"She got away," Robin exclaimed in genuine surprise. "From you?"

"She's got more tricks than I anticipated," he admitted. "But I know her now. She won't escape again."

"But…. From you?"

"Robin, focus. We're still on patrol. Let's go," he ordered, and flung himself out into the open air even before his grapple fired.

Robin looked back into the now empty suite, and chuckled.

"This lady sounds like fun. I've got to meet her!"

Hidden eyes gleamed with mirth as Selina watched from the shadows as the more brightly clad boy followed his mentor.

"Be careful what you wish for, little birdie," she tittered, and turned to follow the pair into the night as lightning flashed in the near distance.

**MoS**

Captain Atom stared at the red planet that loomed before them as they left the Boom Tube, as the New God called Orion named it.

A three week trip in the most advanced rocket he had ever seen had just been reduced to a single eye blink when the Highfather dismissed them after he spoke with them. His mind was still reeling over the conference, and then to be sent home by the ageless sentient with such casual ease was beyond belief.

He had offered to put them right back on their own planet, but to his surprise, Kal-El had suggested a nearby point from which they would return under their own power.

"Some of those on the planet already fear what they do not understand. I would rather not give them cause to fuel their paranoia," he had told the older man who led the New Gods.

"I bow to your wisdom," the man had simply deferred to his choice, and opened a hole in space that parked them just outside Mars' inner orbit. Barely an hour from Earth with their current speed.

"That's….Earth," Kara asked, staring at the blue and green orb just ahead as she sat next to her cousin, absorbing everything he said or did.

She also, Nathanial noted, tended to avoid Flash.

He didn't blame her.

"That's Earth," he told her.

"And….we can fly there?"

"We can," Kal-El told her. "You have to be careful, though. We're much stronger than the ordinary inhabitants of the planet. You could seriously injure them if you are not careful. You must guard your strength at all times, or you might…."

"I understand," Kara murmured. "I figured that out after I realized what I did to that door," she said, and held up one small, deceptively dainty hand. "Father would never believe this were he here."

Kal-El said nothing to that.

She often mentioned her family. Spoke of his own parents with a careless familiarity, but all he really knew came from a recorded hologram that had taught him all he had lost. It was, he knew, not the same as having lived with those people.

"I suggest we stop at the Watchtower first," J'onn told him. "As I expect you wish to take Kara….home, we will disembark there, and report in our own fashion to those expecting us."

"As you wish, J'onn," Kal-El told him. "If you like, I'll leave the ship in the Watchtower so no one can else can reach it. I would rather not leave it parked outside….my place. Even with my defenses, it might prove….careless."

"Understood," the Martian agreed.

"Watchtower," Kara asked as they neared the planet.

"There," Diana pointed with pride as they approached the planet, and banked to follow the curve of the northern hemisphere below.

Kara's eyes rounded as she saw the massive construct that orbited the planet.

"It's…..huge," she rasped. "Like a city in space."

"Not quite that big," J'onn told her as they neared the artificial satellite, and prepared to approach as Captain Atom radioed the clearance codes to open a hangar.

"Can we look around," Kara asked. "How do you power it? Is there gravity? How do you create it? What about….?"

"Slow down," Kal-El smiled at her. "We have time. You'll be seeing much more than this before we're done."

Captain Atom eyed Kal-El, and said nothing as he turned from indicating the hangar being opened for them, waiting for whatever was to come.

"Welcome back, guys," a voice quipped. "But you're early."

"Who," Diana frowned.

They were soon introduced to Robin. Who was a surprise to all of them.

**MoS**

Bruce was still drowsy with sleep when Alfred appeared in his room, and cleared his throat.

"I beg your pardon, sir, but you have a most insistent guest who refuses to be put off."

"I don't care what paper they're with," Bruce growled irritably, "Get rid of them."

"The young lady didn't say she was a reporter, Master Bruce," the loyal butler, and companion told him dryly. "She did, however, say, she enjoyed playing, ahem, _cat-and-mouse _with you."

Bruce tensed, and still wearing only pajama pants, and a robe he was just pulling on at the time, all but flew down the stairs.

To find Selina Kyle standing in his drawing room, studying the oversized portrait of his family.

"Hello… Bruce," the stylishly dressed brunette smiled. "Nice place. Better than mine. But, then, you can afford it, can't you?"

"What brings you here, Ms. Kyle," he asked. "I'm afraid I don't….."

"Oh, come on," she smiled. "The stuffy lord of the manor doesn't quite suit you. Especially while you're….out of uniform, as it were," she grinned at him. "Still, I didn't think surprising you _below_ would have been….smart."

"Touché," Bruce murmured.

"Before you get all cranky," she grinned, raising both hands. "I'd like to talk. Just talk. Perhaps arrange….a truce?"

Bruce's eyes narrowed as he eyed her.

"Why would I want a truce with you," he asked, his voice dropping an octave, and his grim tone sounding far more familiar to her ears.

"I get the whole law-and-order bit, Bruce," she smiled, and walked over to stand before him, barely inches between them as he didn't move an inch.

His eyes narrowed all the more, and his tone grew even colder when she started to reach out to cup his cheek, and his hand rose to intercept hers.

"Let's cut to the chase, _Catwoman_," he growled.

"Oh, Bruce. Relax, darling. I'm here strictly to talk."

She turned, walked over to an overstuffed divan, and dropped down.

"Now, relax," she said, and patted the cushion next to her. "Have your man bring us some tea, or whatever, and let's chat. Man to woman. Or….bat to cat, if you prefer."

Bruce stared. Hard.

"Downstairs. I don't mix business with my public life," he growled, and turned to leave.

"Lead the way," she cooed, and walked after him, not showing any surprise when he opened a panel behind an old grandfather clock, and leapt for the pole beyond.

She followed him down, graceful in spite of her dress, and landed just an instant after him as he walked away into the shadows. He reappeared a few moments later, back in full costume.

Selina sighed.

"Well, there goes the mood," she sighed.

"Tell me one reason I shouldn't drag you in to the authorities right now?"

"You'd have to catch me first," she suggested.

Batman's eyes ranked her lithe figure framed to perfection in the violet dress, and matching heels.

"It'd be an interesting race. But, I really am here just to talk."

"Then talk," Batman growled.

"Okay, okay. Jeez, you are the workaholic type, aren't you. Fine, fine. First, I'll give you something to prove my….sincerity," he was told.

Batman just stood there, staring coldly.

Selina sighed.

"I honestly need your help. But, I heard it on the grapevine that you need mine, too."

"Your help," he quipped skeptically.

"Yes. I know who's pushing the arms in Gotham. Likely in quite a few other cities in the region."

"Do you?"

"I do. He's approached me, and in doing so, stepped on my toes, too, as it were. So, you see, we'd actually be helping each other out if you agree to…."

"Who?"

Selina sobered, and glanced around the shadowy cave so massive she couldn't see all the walls. Let alone the ceiling.

"Ra's."

Batman sobered.

"What do you know of the League of Assassins?"

"Enough to know al Ghul is insane. Unlike you, he believes in the goddess. He stole an aspect of her still imprisoned, and which I hoped to free, and is trying to coerce me into aiding him in exchange for her return."

"Your mutual beliefs aside," Batman murmured thoughtfully. "What is planning?"

Selina sobered now, and looked positively grim as she told him, "Genocide."

"You'll have to be more specific. He's been plotting the end of Mankind for as long as I've known him."

"But he's ready to start fulfilling that dream now. He's….acquired some seriously high-tech weaponry. Weaponry tweaked by some freaky genius he has on his parole. He's arming all the gangs in the major cities…."

"I know that much. What's the plan beyond that?"

"He's going to ignite a race war. Using the gangs, he wants to start a citywide conflict that will not just turn national, but global. He intends to use flashpoints to start a madness exploiting race and fanaticism that will wipe out most of the world's population. Needless to say, even I'm not into genocide."

"When does it start," Batman demanded. "Where?"

"I don't know. But I did hear one name."

"What name?"

"The genius tweaking his tech. Angora Lapin. They call her the White Rabbit. She's as crazy as he is, but the difference is, she only cares about the money she thinks she'll make."

Batman stared hard at her.

Then nodded.

"Tell me everything. From the beginning," he told her.

Selina smiled.

**MoS**

The ironically named Dove clutched her throat, trying in vain to breathe as the last ounces of oxygenated water were pumped from her tank, and left the mostly humanoid fish-girl painfully gasping for breath that would not come.

Dr. Dabney Donovan stared at the creature with elongated fins for lower limbs, and webbed hands as she stared in horror at him and the other guards that were executing all those the new director deemed 'inferior.' She was, unfortunately, on the short list.

"You can't just murder these people," Jim Harper shouted, held back by no less than four, burly guards that had stopped him from interfering.

"They aren't people, Mr. Harper. Any more than you are a real man," he snorted. "They are assets. Specimens. In this case, worthless ones," he drawled as the pug-faced man with overly thick glasses watched indifferently as the female died by inches. "And they must be swept aside to make way for the next generation of more worthy creations."

"Damn you….!"

"Careful, Mr. Harper," the scientist chortled. "Or I might reconsider your value to this project, too."

"Reconsider mine," another voice spat, and a man was flung aside even as Guardian's fallen shield suddenly went spinning through the air before them, severing two different pipes, and freeing the water to rush back into the large tank as the female buried her face in the first precious inches of life-giving water as Dabney spun around to stare at the intruder.

"Sorry, James," the smirking teen said as he faced off against the security guards. "But I think the covert part of this mission just went south." He cracked his knuckles as he added, "Which suits me fine. Ready to party," he asked the guards around him, not even moving.

Not one of them so much as lifted a weapon.

"I've been expecting you ever since these freaks started disappearing," Dabney smirked. "And I've got just the thing for you," he said, and pulled out a small, lead box from a coat pocket.

Connor frowned at the small, glittering stone of dark green, and reached out and plucked it from the velvet case lined in lead.

"What? Jewelry," he laughed, tossing it from one hand to the other. "Guess you didn't get the memo," he said. "It don't bother us any more," he said, and carelessly tossed the meteor over his shoulder.

Dabney Donovan cursed vehemently, and backed away from the insolent clone.

"You think you've won? I haven't even begun, you pretentious little boy," he spat, and shouted at one of the arriving men, "Fry them! Fry them all!"

"Huh? Yeow," Connor exclaimed, feeling the temperature of the superheated gases before the liquid napalm was fired in his direction, aimed at the other people in the lab slotted for 'clearing,' too.

Then he lifted his hands, somehow pushed back, and the flame seemed to turn and blow back at the men firing their modified flamethrowers. The men screamed, but Connor was indifferent. He was busy patting out the flames fluttering around his jacket, his eyes dark with indignation.

"Do you know what this thing cost me," he demanded. "Talk about a lack of respect!"

"Go," Guardian barked at him, knowing if Donovan had departed, it was bring back heavier artillery. "Get them out of here now, before….."

"Going," Connor agreed, and ripped the chains off a tall, rocky humanoid with a cocky grin. "Can you grab our mermaid, big guy? I have the feeling my hands are going to be full very soon."

The craggy visage split a grin, and he lifted the entire tank, now overflowing with water, and followed Connor and Guardian back toward the main vault.

"Time for a mass exodus, everyone," Connor called out. "The cat's out of the bag, and we are out of time," he told them, ripping away the panel that had been used of late to smuggle out the genomorphs in hoped-for secrecy before anyone realize what they were doing. Obviously, someone had noticed.

Freeing all the others they could manage, Connor gestured them on, and then stood in the mouth of the tunnel he had expanded to help smuggle out his 'brothers,' as he deemed them.

"Go," he told James when he stopped to put himself between the departing refugees, and the soon to be arriving guards. "I'll hold them back long enough for you to blow the tunnel."

"And leave you here? Even you couldn't….."

Connor just stared at him.

"You think they're going to let you get away with this one," he asked him. "Go. I'll be fine. You aren't bulletproof."

"Neither are you," Guardian quipped.

"What? Of course I am. Haven't you been paying attention….?"

"Yes. You, however, haven't. You're not invulnerable. You're using a powerful telekinetic ability to protect yourself. You should have noticed that when you shoved back the flames. Donovan likely noticed that, too, and he's going to exploit that. You can't watch your front, and your back. I can."

"No martyrs today, James," Connor told him without replying to his claims, and grabbed him, and flung him down the tunnel.

He then drove a fist into the nearest support pillar, and collapsed his end of the tunnel.

Just as he heard the first shouts of men running his way.

He eyed the few genomorphs too dependent on their artificial environments to safely move, and gave them a grim smile as he shoved the panel back into place, then strained to move a heavy console to hide its looseness. Hopefully long enough for the others to bring down the rest of the tunnel, and get away.

He heard hard hammering at the Vault door, and eyed the others again, remarking, "Well, this didn't quite turn out like I planned."

_Continued….._


	19. Chapter 19

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

******Original Story by LJ58 (Inspired by Twisted-Wun)**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**19**

"It's like home," Kara remarked in wonder as she walked through the 'Fortress.'

"So I've been told," Kal-El told her as he showed her around.

She frowned. "By whom? You said we were the last…."

He reached the main control center, and smiled. Lifting a large, glowing crystal, he inserted it into the reader, and twisted it just so.

"Kara. Say hello to Jor-El."

"Welcome back, my son," the holographic construct appeared, bowing to him.

"Father, this is Kara."

"Kara Zor-El," the ghostly image smiled as if reacting to her. "Did your parents survive, then?"

"No," she sighed, staring at the translucent man she remembered so well. "Only I did. Thanks to Kal-El."

"Indeed. Then, welcome to Earth, Kara. I know my son is fortunate to have found another Kryptonian to share this world with."

Kal-El sighed.

"I am the one lucky to be found by him," she remarked.

Jor-El said nothing.

Kara looked back at Kal-El, and asked, "This is how you have lived? This is how you grew up?"

He sobered now.

"Not….exactly. I did not learn of my true heritage for some years."

"I don't understand. If Jor-El was with you….?"

Kal-El shut off the hologram, and then gestured for her to follow him.

"It's a long story. And a somber one. Not everyone will welcome you, Kara. So you must be especially careful around this planet's authorities. Let me explain."

And he began to tell her just how he had come to Earth.

Kal-El waited for her reaction once he finally finished, but she seemed to just be staring now as she sat there where they had settled in his private living quarters. He glanced around for a moment, giving her time to assimilate, and knowing she still had a lot to accept.

That had been proven when she spoke to him in privacy after leaving the others.

"I didn't want to say this around the humans," she had told him as they reached the planet after departing the Watchtower, "But…. Do I have to be one of them? You know, a hero? I mean, back on Argos, all that mattered was….surviving. But….all this? I never expected to wake up with….powers and abilities beyond reason. Somehow, flying around hitting people seems….juvenile. And…. And…. I just don't want…..that."

"Kara," he sighed, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No one, not even I, will force you to do, or be something you do not wish. I can't begin to imagine all you've gone through. What you lost. So I would be the last person to try to make you follow a path that isn't right for you. I'm just showing you what is here, so you can appreciate what your available options are just now."

Kara smiled faintly now, looking up at him.

"You sound so much like Jor-El just now. You're like him, you know. I mean, you look like him, but…. You sound like him, now, too. He was always leaving you to decide things after he laid out the facts, as he put it."

Kal-El only smiled as she suddenly embraced him, and she whispered in his ears, "Thank you for finding me. Whatever I do, I'll never forget that. Never forget you, Kal."

Before he could respond, he looked away, and frowned as he heard something. Something very faint, but troubling.

**MoS**

Huntress moved through the shadows, following the lieutenant who had risen unexpectedly in a certain gang after the old leadership disappeared.

Literally disappeared.

Gossip claimed they were vaporized.

Huntress believed the gossip.

Street gossip always had more truth behind it than most realized. It was how she had found her father's killers. How she had tracked them to their true lair, and unmasked their secret organization. It was why she had killed them without mercy when the rest of the so-called heroes had wanted to slap their collective wrists, and give them a cushy jail cell.

Huntress was not a woman of half-measures.

The guilty died.

Period.

She paused in the alley near the old brownstone where the three boys, nearly adults, had just passed the lieutenant through their obviously strong security.

No casual check, either. Someone in disguise wasn't getting in without being one of the real bangers that belonged here.

She had the feeling that anyone else wasn't getting turned away. They were getting dead.

She knew the locals had sent in two different investigators since the gangs started consolidating. Neither man had returned. That was all she needed to know. When Batman himself risked coming to her with his own suspicions, Huntress accepted for her own reasons.

The last thing she wanted in her city was a new threat rising to fill the power vacuum she and Batman were creating from their respective assaults on the powers-that-be. Notching her crossbow, she loaded not three, but four small darts, and eased back to the corner where she could eye the stoop.

She eyed the pair on the stoop, knew the third was close to the door since he had just disappeared, and guessed a fourth had to be close since they did seem to be more cautious of late. Still, they were kids. Full of themselves. Certain they were untouchable. That meant the likely didn't have too many more, if any, near the door.

She stepped out, fired twice in rapid succession, and the two scruffy teens dropped instantly, the special curare blend on her darts paralyzing them instantly.

As expected, a third teen burst out of the half-open door when they fell, eyes scanning the street rather than looking toward the alley where she stood just out of sight. He held a silver weapon that was half the size of a sawed-off, but fatter, and deadlier looking. The flared barrel suggested one of Batman's alien weapons rather than one of the BG-80's the kids were calling Toastmasters just now.

Either way, she realized it was bad news in that gangbanger's hands.

She fired again even as he turned from the street, only then starting to scan the sidewalks.

Too bad he was too slow.

He hit the ground, too, the weapon falling from his hands, and clattering to the steps where it landed on the sidewalk near her feet, since she had quickly dashed over to intercept it by then.

No fourth boy showed.

Amateurs, she dismissed them.

"Don't worry," she sneered at the boy who stared up at her, eyes wide at seeing her, but unable to even blink. "It'll wear off. This time. I see you again, though, and next time you go down permanently. I hope you don't think I'm bluffing," she added pointedly for the other two staring at her as she scooped up the alien weapon before she stepped over them, slid into the door, and closed it behind her.

Frankly, she'd have just killed them from the start, but she promised the Bat she would leave them alive for him to question.

This time.

To demonstrate she was working within his parameters, she had made twenty new darts. All with the paralyzing, but nonlethal drugs on the tips. Of course, after the twenty, it was back to business as usual. Which meant if there were more than twenty thugs in here, someone was going to have a bad day.

She tried to pretend she cared.

Helena Bertinelli had stopped caring the day she buried her parents after a drive-by that proved to be a preplanned hit.

Her dad was mafia. A former crime boss. He never hid that truth from her. He did try to go straight, and get out of the old life, hoping to give his family a life away from the usual crime and corruption that ruled their world. Instead, he was gunned down, and not one man on either side of the law cared.

Helena, however, had a different view on the matter, and the Huntress was born.

She moved down the hall, sharp eyes tracking wear patterns in the dirty carpet, and noting where dust was left undisturbed, and where a lot of traffic seemed to go.

Not to the rooms. Or even upstairs.

Almost predictably, all the foot traffic, and the faint sound of voices, seemed to be coming from the basement door.

She mentally reviewed the hours of tape and recon she had personally conducted. At least fifteen targets down there. At least. There could be more. There might be a static guard that she never saw. She had counted just over a dozen that came and went regularly, but even she knew that might have just covered stationary guards watching their new arsenal.

This, she knew from Batman, was one of the sites where a weapons drop had been made. Batman knew, because he had decided to let one of the shipments go through just to see where it went after he began growing suspicious of what was really going on.

She prepped another four darts, then considered changing to a larger magazine. Still, that cut back on accuracy. The weight would change the dynamics of her favored weapon, and if there was one thing she prided herself on, it was accuracy.

Just in case, she had two more cartridges ready in her belt, and a favored knife in her free hand. The gauntlets with their special needle-daggers were her last-ditch weapon of choice, usually saved for covering her retreat when necessary. Only five in each gauntlet, but just as potent as her favored mini-arrows when it came to stopping power.

The lethal kind.

The alien weapon was slung over one shoulder under her short cape.

Slipping around the half-open door, she let her eyes adjust to the faint illumination in the alcove before she started down the steps.

She moved slowly. Carefully.

Once a stair creaked, but no one reacted.

Too sure of themselves. Too sure that no one would dare intrude.

They should know better.

Especially in Gotham.

She dropped into a crouch near the end of the stairs, and pressed to the wall where the shadows remained deeper as she neared the main floor. The voices were clearer now. More distinct.

They were, predictably, arguing.

"…..telling you, we don't need to wait for some stupid, old fart. We can rule the streets, bros," someone was saying. "These cannons can even take out the cops. Nobody could touch us," someone was bragging. "Nobody!" Huntress couldn't help it.

She targeted the teen by his voice and fired. He dropped almost instantly, and she couldn't help growling, "Just call me nobody," even as the gang embers shouted in confusion and fury as one of their own went down before their eyes.

Chaos erupted a second later.

**MoS**

"….you've cost me time and money for the last time, boy," Dabney Donovan spat. "I'll figure out how to correct your deviancy in the next generation," he said as five men with futuristic weapons attached to large power-packs on their backs moved to face him after a high-density ram had finally broken through the vault door he had jammed.

"Says you," Connor shot, pointedly keeping himself between the men, and the more helpless genomorphs behind him.

"Fire," Dabney growled.

Just before a rush of wind knocked the men over, and left them fumbling for weapons they no longer held.

"I'd be very careful about sparks just now, gentlemen," Kal-El growled as he dropped the weapons he had torn free of their fuel tanks. Dropping them on the ground even as the men realized their tanks were draining to pool around them.

The men looked horrified as the moved to carefully remove the tanks, and backed away. Very far away.

"Talk about timing, big guy," Connor told him. "This freak was about to execute all the genomorphs he felt weren't pulling their weight."

"It appears my reassurances that Cadmus was changing were amiss," Kal-El said, and turned to eye the genomorphs that watched from their cells/containment facilities. "You are safe. You have my word," he told them as Dabney only sputtered, and cursed.

"You….alien….have no right to dictate to Americans!"

"And you have no right to play god with innocent beings," Connor spat.

"Where is Guardian?"

"I helped him get away. They were going to _kill_ him, too."

"It appears I returned just in time. You people are too fond of trying to bury your mistakes. That ends now."

"Now see here….."

"You recall Ms. Lane from the Planet," Kal-El turned to ask Connor.

"Well, yeah," he blushed slightly, not about to admit he had been using her as a press agent for his own publicity at the start of his own 'career.'

"Go find her, and bring her here. It's time the public got a firsthand view of just what Cadmus is doing."

"You don't have the authority….!" Connor was already gone.

"It isn't about authority," Kal-El told him. "If we follow your example, it's obviously about who has the might, and power to enforce their own will. Am I not correct?"

Dabney just glared.

**MoS**

Kara walked through the crystal halls, pausing now and then to study holographic displays. The one of Kal's parents touched her most.

From her perspective, it still wasn't that long ago that she had seen them. Jor-El had refused to leave Krypton with them, citing an important project that had to be completed. Now, she understood. In all history, no Kryptonian had ever left their system. Not one. They had explored their immediate star system. Colonized a few habitable moons. Only none of them ever left their space. Their home. It was, to Kryptonian minds, unthinkable to even attempt such a journey.

Yet Jor-El had obviously arranged to send his son away all the same.

Rather than try to survive, and ride out the disaster that proved far more devastating than even her father had realized, Jor-El had spent his final hours ensuring his son escaped the devastation that claimed their home.

Even her father had thought Argo might be a safe sanctuary when they first fled there. Even he thought they might yet survive, and rebuild.

Only the green sickness followed them. The tremors of the forces unleashed by Krypton's death throes had devastated the entire system. Too late, they realized there was no second chance. No escape. Zor-El, hoping to spare his family the madness he still felt would eventually pass, and put them into stasis to try to sleep through the worst of it.

Only they didn't survive.

Only she did.

And from Kal-El had told her, it had been a very close thing.

She sighed, and walked through the halls after her restlessness had her examining his library. His communications system. And most of the fortress.

Only reviewing a history that meant nothing now didn't hold her attention.

And it hurt to see anything that reminded her of just how much she had lost.

She had told him she didn't want to flit about, playing 'hero' as he seemed to be doing, but as she studied Earth through his many monitors, she had the feeling these people needed far more help than even they realized. They seemed on the brink of their own cataclysm. Only they seemed determined to hurl themselves off that brink. It was madness, and made no sense.

Of course, her final conscious days on Argos had made no sense either.

She sighed, and stopped near the hatch that led outside onto the polar landscape.

Drawing a deep breath, she stepped outside, and still found it astonishing that she could know it was lethally cold here, and yet she felt nothing. She sensed the wind blowing. Heard the ice crystals crunching under her boot, but she felt nothing.

She raised a hand, and flexed her fingers, still shocked that just being under this yellow star could so energize her metabolism that she became….

She wasn't sure what she was. Which only added to the confusion about what to do next. Kal-El left her life in her hands.

"I would never try to force my will on anyone," he had told her. "Let alone my own cousin. You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. Or to go investigate the world on your own. It is, after all, your home now, Kara. Like I," he had told her. "You must find your own way here."

She appreciated he wasn't being heavy-handed with her.

Still, a part of her wished he would just….nudge her just a little. Because she truly didn't have a clue what to do with her life.

She and Kal were literally the last living Kryptonians from all he knew. So what now?

What now?

She sighed, and lifted herself into the air, tears misting her blue eyes as she wondered what her mother would have thought of this world.

She wasn't even sure what she thought of it, but logic suggested she couldn't truly know it by staring at monitor screens, and watching others. She had to meet people. Interact. It was….logical.

Turning south, she rose higher into the sky, and began a leisurely flight toward the nearest civilization. It was time to meet humans. Not costumed heroes, but….ordinary people.

**MoS**

"We have a situation," Amanda Waller barked as she rushed into the general's office where Captain Atom was still giving his report to the man regarding their very surprising trip. So far, though, he was keeping as much back as he reported. The side trip to Krypton, and the discovery of the cousin remained his secret for now.

The miraculous Boom Tube that brought them home so far, and so fast also remained a secret.

For now.

Kal-El was right. Eiling was more interested in weapons and defenses than anything else about the New Gods. He was far more curious about _taking_ any such weapons than he was accepting any aid. If he didn't know better, he would have thought Eiling wanted to set up his own little kingdom. Only the man really was just a hardliner that felt America should be number one. Period.

Unfortunately, his vision had a lot of others buried under his boot.

Metas being just one more group he despised.

"What now," Wade Eiling demanded, eyeing her as Captain Atom accepted the interruption, and simply fell silent.

"Your _Superman_ just invaded Cadmus. Again. In fact, he had that Planet reporter Lane brought down, and she's doing a _live_ report from the facility right now!" General Eiling paled.

"What?"

"Captain, you need to….."

"I know," Nathaniel nodded. "But by the time I arrive, I wager everything will be settled. I'll catch up with him when he leaves. Find out what he's planning. Meanwhile, I want to see Angela…."

"Now isn't a good time," Wade told him.

"I don't care," he told him flatly, and walked out of the office.

"He's getting willful," Amanda remarked.

Wade shot her a curt glare, but didn't comment in that regard.

"Just tell me you have an idea?"

"Not yet. For now, the alien is going to have his moment."

"What about the Suicide Squad," he demanded.

"They aren't ready. They certainly aren't in his class. I hope to have a final member drafted soon, though, that just might tip the scales in our favor."

"I hope you're right," the general spat. "Unchecked alien contacts. Increasing meta presence operating outside channels. This is fast getting out of control. We need a lid clamped on this one, Waller. And we need it now."

"Patience," she told him. "If I'm right, this new member could be just what we need to tip those proverbial scales. I just have to sway the conscript to our way of thinking."

Wade Eiling only snorted at that.

"Just get them ready. I'm ready to have that caped interloper put down once and for all."

"As I said, General Eiling. Patience. And be careful about pushing Adam. The captain isn't stupid, and if he ever finds out how we played him, I don't think we could stop him. I don't think the _League_ could stop him."

"The man is a soldier. He'll follow orders," Wade growled.

"I certainly hope so. You're playing a dangerous game here. I tried to tell you that from the start."

Wade just shot her a curt glare, and demanded, "If all you did was show up to tell me what you can't do, why are you even here?"

"To test Captain Atom's reaction to Superman's reported actions. I don't think he knew what he was up to there, since he was as surprised as you were."

"Sometimes I wonder just whose side you're on, Ms. Waller," the old officer muttered as she left.

Needless to say, she wasn't there to reply.

_Continued….._


	20. Chapter 20

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

******Original Story by LJ58 (Inspired by Twisted-Wun)**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**20**

"Tell me you're joking," Nathaniel demanded as he faced Kal-El high in the sky over the planet. A place where no one could overhear what they were discussing since they were also out of range of any of the current spy satellites that might have detected them.

"I am sorry," Kal-El told him. "My instruments aren't wrong. I checked them twice to be sure of the findings. Your wife is already dead. The indications suggest she's been dead for a very long time. Why they preserved her as they did before your….apparent return is beyond me, but…."

"Eiling knows," Nathaniel hissed.

"What are you going to do," Kal-El asked him blandly.

"I….don't know," he admitted, hovering there on the edge of the atmosphere with clenched fists as his eyes glittered with cosmic energies that reacted to his fury. "I….just don't know."

Kal-El didn't press him.

"For what it is worth, Captain. I am sorry."

"It's not your fault, Superman," he called him somberly. "Not your fault."

Kal-El said nothing as the living energy that called itself human turned to fly back to the planet below. He did not even bother to watch him after his departure. He knew exactly where he was going. It was where he would have gone.

**MoS**

"I said no killing," Batman growled as he entered the basement where Huntress was sifting the equipment, some of it truly unbelievable as she considered upgrading a few of her own gadgets.

Helena smirked as she glanced over her shoulder at her some times nemesis, some times ally.

"I didn't kill a one. Most of them killed theselves with their wild shooting. Some of these popguns really do vaporize matter, by the way, so careful," she said as Batman picked up one of the devices at his feet.

"This isn't terrestrial. It's not even a modified BG-80 we've seen. It's…."

"Alien? Yeah, I got that. Prettyboy over there said they had some guy that popped in and out in some kind of fancy portal that dropped these off," she said, gesturing over her shoulder at the one conscious banger who was tied up in a corner.

The bald teen with tattoos all over his skull, and the usual piercings in unlikely places, only glared.

"So, happy?"

"I'll be happier when you put back what you pocketed," he growled, noting the pouch at her side that was heavy with scavenged gear.

"Nothing serious, Batman," she smiled, pating the pouch. "A few arrows, and miniguns that make up for the freebie I just did you. By the way, you might want to question pretty boy yourself. He said something interesting. Very interesting. Tah," she said, and headed for the door.

Batman reached for her shoulder, even as she weaved, and a smoke pellet exploded behind her.

His special lenses tracked her body heat, but he let her go. He knew where to find her. Besides, he reminded himself as he turned to the glaring teen trussed up for him. He had more important things to do just now.

"Let's you and I talk," he said in his deepest, darkest tone.

The boy actually whimpered.

Which only made Batman smile as he reached for the teen.

**MoS**

"Hey, wondered if you were coming back," Connor smiled.

Kal-El did not smile.

"Dr. Donovan was….reassigned. There are still those that feel he did nothing wrong in spite of Ms. Lane's efforts to expose the illicit research going on under Cadmus' auspices."

"Man, that tanks. Then they'll probably just start over somewhere else."

"Likely," the brightly clad hero nodded. "That said, it doesn't preclude us ignoring them. We will keep an eye on them."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I heard you did good work while I was away," Kal-El said as he moved to eye the stacks of books around the apartment.

Connor might be playing the role of a careless teen, but he was obviously still doing his best to learn all he could, as fast as he could. Kal-El merely nodded at the contents of some of those texts, and turned back to him to find Connor looking a little sheepish.

"You mean Steel didn't rat on me?"

"I haven't met this….Steel."

"Well, he seems okay, for the self-righteous type. Still, I did kind of have….some problems at times. Seems I'm not as much like you as I thought."

"I thought that was obvious from the tests we ran at the Fortress."

"Well, yeah. I get the whole powers thing. But…I meant the careful, super-meticulous attention to details you have going. I got careless a few times, and…."

"From what I heard, you did fine," Kal-El told him. "Even I had to learn at the beginning," he told him. "You might be surprised at how many times I had….accidents at the start while getting used to my own powers. It could be….embarrassing," he admitted somberly. "Still, you saved lives, and kept things from escalating. That is important, too. Just learn from your mistakes, and keep going. It is what we all do."

Connor nodded.

"Thanks, Kal," he said as the Kryptonian turned toward the window.

"We are brothers," he reminded him. "Feel free to call anytime you need me."

"Thanks. I, ah, better finish my homework now. Want to stay for pizza? I ordered pepperoni?"

Kal-El smiled.

"Sorry. Prior engagement."

"Your loss," Connor grinned.

"Perhaps next time," he said, and vanished out the window in a blur of superspeed.

"Man, that is so cool," Connor grinned, wishing he were that fast. He was close, he knew, but still not as fast as the original. Maybe when he grew up?

**KP**

"Finally," Wonder Woman complained as Batman and Superman walked into the conference room to join her and the other senior members of the League already present.

"Problems," Batman asked in his usual tone as his eyes went to the feline meta bound to a nearby chair by Diana's lasso.

"Nope," Wally smiled. "Diana's just a little irked over the menagerie we're acquiring."

"Menagerie," Kal-El frowned.

"Well, you brought the bird-chick, Supes. Then Bats brought the kitty….."

"Don'e call me Supes."

"Don't call me Bats."

"Hey, I'm no kitty, you colorblind adolescent!"

"You are so lucky Shayera didn't hear you call her that," Aquaman smirked.

Wally sighed.

"Enough," Batman growled, and deftly tugged the lasso from Catwoman, and tossed to toward Diana who simply snapped her wrist, and managed to curl up back up in the same move before attaching it to her belt.

Catwoman, who occasionally favored a whip, was genuinely impressed.

"Nice technique," she smiled at her, rising, and stretching in sensual fashion before padding over to Batman's side.

"Next time stay out of unauthorized areas," the Amazon growled. "Your….guest was trying to break into our private quarters," she told Batman curtly.

"Hey, Cats like to prowl," she smirked.

"Enough," Batman snapped again. "This meeting was called because we have a serious threat before us. One that is more dangerous than we first realized."

"Because Intergang allying with alien dictators wasn't enough?"

"No," Batman turned to glare at Wally. "It's just two sides of a very disturbing triangle."

"Go on," J'onn nodded to him, Wally shrugging, and falling silent again.

"To begin with, I brought Catwoman here to….protect her as much as question her. She has provided clues to the case before us that have hitherto eluded, or confused us. With her input, it has become obvious that Darkseid has more than one agent on Earth. He is also working with the League of Assassins. Or they…have allied with him."

"Not Ras al Ghul again," Wally complained.

Batman simply glanced at him.

"I'm just saying….."

"This actually gives us an edge," Batman told them. "We all know Ras is after nothing less than virtual genocide in his mad quest to 'save' the planet from humanity's blight. A quest that obviously fits well with this alien's ambitions at grinding the galaxy under his heel."

"And that helps how," Diana asked.

"Hey, I was going to ask the same thing," Flash agreed.

Batman shook his head.

"Intergang, for whatever else, is about criminal profit and power. There is no profit on a dead planet. Or even an enslaved one. If we can make that clear to Mannheim, we might be able to shatter their pyramid, and undo their plans before they can start the chaos Ras intends."

"That's a tall order," J'onn remarked. "Even for us. Intergang isn't likely to listen to us, let alone accept aid…."

"I have….other friends who are spreading that word through the underworld now," Batman told him. "Our immediate concern is staving off the impending attack of the gangs, and diverting any more arms' shipments to other gangs. We have to step up our efforts, and ensure the Ras' attempt to arm every gang in the nation is thwarted."

"Haven't we been doing that all along?"

"Not well enough. I acquired evidence that Apokolips is shipping weaponry directly to certain staging areas via their…..teleport technology."

"Boom tubes," Diana frowned.

"Probably. From what we learned, the New Gods and Apokolips actually have similar technological development," Kal-El nodded.

"So how do we stop that," Flash complained.

"My Fortress' sensors can be fine-tuned to detect, and locate any teleport activity across trans-spatial coordinates. With your permission," he turned to J'onn, "I'll tie in the detection grid to the Watchtower's monitor system, and we'll know when and where any future shipments appear the instant they occur."

"And we just teleport down, and bust them," Flash grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

"What with the New Gods do about Darkseid," Batman now asked Superman. "I haven't heard that part as yet. Do we have an ally?"

"An unofficial one," Kal-El admitted. "Apparently, New Genesis and Apokolips have a truce at the moment. A cease-fire, you would call it."

"So, we're still on our own," Batman grumbled.

"Not completely," Diana told him.

Batman frowned.

"I did get Highfather to agree to add Earth to his protectorate. As of now, we are officially neutral ground. Any proof we can acquire that ties Darkseid to overt attempts against Mankind, and New Genesis will step in to aid us. We just need that proof to justify their actions."

Batman glowered.

"So, we're now an intergalactic DMZ," he grumbled. "Wonderful."

"Could have been worse," Flash told him.

"It always is," Batman spat.

"We need to consider increasing our ranks considering the escalating threats," Diana told him. "How was you recruiting going?"

"I've been….busy. But, not well." He glanced at Kal-El, adding, "Apparently, Superman's distrust of our covert mandate is shared by a lot of the other independent metas I approached."

"Talk about getting bit in the…."

"Flash, please," Diana sighed.

"We can discuss that later," Kal-El said. "We need to focus on the matter before us."

"Agreed," J'onn said as he rose. "If we do not stop the powers aligning against us, the details of our charter won't matter."

"I suggest we all get to work. Catwoman, if you're ready, I have a lead on Ras' latest location. I'll be handling that end. Just as my…..other allies are busy spreading the rumors to Intergang. Even if we don't sway Mannheim, a lot of his people will hear, and I hope, listen."

"That does seem a wise course," the Martian agreed as they all stood now, the meeting breaking up. "Meanwhile, Kal-El and I will get the sensors online, and the rest of us will stand ready to manage intercepts, or if necessary, intervention if the violence does break out."

"As of now, all members are on high alert. Signal everyone, J'onn," Batman told him.

"I will."

"Let's go," Batman growled at Catwoman.

"Lord Curry," Kal-El paused to address the king of Atlantis.

"Yes, my friend," the bearded amphibious hero turned to him.

"I was wondering how Dove was doing since we delivered her to you? Any problems….?"

"She is fitting in quite well. Only she favors Lori now. You did a good thing bringing her to us. She was not meant to live on land."

"No one should have to live in captivity," Kal-El told him somberly.

"In that, we are agreed. Now, I've my own concerns to tend just now, but rest assured, I am ready to assist you all when you need me," he told him as he turned to leave with the others."

"So, how many of the genomorphs have you relocated since the media learned of Cadmus' fresh sins," J'onn asked him as they headed for the control deck.

"Not enough," Kal-El said quietly. "Not nearly enough."

**MoS**

"Hey, Connor, can I talk to you?"

Connor turned from shoving books into his locker, and eyed the shorter, thinner boy.

"Oh, hey. It's….Billy, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Billy Batson."

"Okay, so what's up?"

"I….kind of saw you the other day."

"Saw me?"

Billy glanced around.

"Fly off," he murmured, and handed him a phone.

"What's this?"

"I…..kind of took it from Pete. Pete Tompkins? He saw you, too, and filmed you."

Connor grimaced, and snatched the phone from his hand. Thumbing through the index, he played a file marked "S," and watched himself finish changing before he flew out the bathroom window.

"What do you two want," he asked grimly as he crushed the phone in his hand.

Billy grimaced, but caught the debris, and pulled out a small memory chip.

"This is the part you want," he said, and snapped the chip in half. "Look, I don't want anything. I'm glad you're here, keeping an eye on…..bad guys on every level. But, ah, Pete? I can't say. I heard him crowing he was about to have the world at his fingertips soon after you flew away. When I realized what he intended after I saw him film you, I kind of…..stole his phone. Only I don't know if that's the only footage. I'm just tipping you off. Okay?"

Connor stared at the younger boy that had just started high school.

"You really don't want anything?"

"Not a thing. Us heroes got to stick together. Right?"

"Heroes?"

"Well, you know, heroes and their….uh, friends?"

"Right. So, as far as you know, this is it?"

"So far as I know. Just….be more careful. If the wrong people saw that…?"

"Yeah. It'd be a pain," he grumbled.

"Yeah," Billy agreed. "Uh, later, then?"

"Yeah. Later," Connor said, and headed for the exit after closing his locker.

Billy only grinned, guessing the school bully was about to have a bad day.

**MoS**

The girl saw the car screeching around the corner from her vantage, her eyes drawn by the sound, and the faint wail of a siren only now filling the air.

The sedan slid around, its tires catching belatedly before it roared up the block, and she realized she was staring at a six year old boy running right toward the street as he followed a rolling ball. A woman screamed from nearby, and ran for the sidewalk, but the girl knew she'd never make it, and that car wasn't slowing down.

She flew down out of the sky, planting herself in front of the car with less than a foot between her and the startled boy as her feet slammed into the pavement, stopping the car instantly with a hand shoved into the hood.

The men in the front seat went flying through the windshield, neither of them having been wearing seatbelts.

Even as they went bouncing across the pavement, cursing and yelling, a third man in the back recovered to try to reclaim a shotgun he had been holding.

"Tommy," the mother screamed as the boy stood there as the man in the backseat aimed the shotgun pointblank at the blonde, and by default, the child.

The mother watched incredulously as the air flared with crimson as the shotgun detonated, and yet nothing hit her, or her son.

She ran forward, scooped up her son, and all but dragged him back to the yard as two police cars only now sped around the corner to slide to a stop on either side of the ruined sedan.

"Freeze," one of the officers demanded as both officers jumped out to point their guns at the man in the car.

Who was watching the blonde who had just somehow snatched his shotgun from his hands, and was now crushing it into a shapeless ball.

"Now I see why my cousin wishes to be a champion," she said more to herself than not. "Some of these humans are heedless of their own kind."

"Hold it, lady," one of the cops shouted, even as she rose into the air.

She looked down, and pointed.

"You should assist the other malcontents. I suspect they were injured by their ejection from their vehicle."

Then she flew away as the little boy shouted gleefully as he pointed up at her.

"Look, momma! See! See! A superhero! I wanna fly, too!"

Kara smiled back at the boy, gave him a playful wave, and then flew off over the city as she continued her random path over the globe as she tried to understand these humans.

The police, meanwhile, were checking the two men laying on the pavement, badly battered from their sudden stop, and headlong flight.

"Bet you'll wear seatbelts next time," one of them quipped as the bank robbers just lay groaning on the ground before them.

**MoS**

Kal-El flashed down to his fortress, not too surprised that Kara had gone out, but simply continued to his monitor room to finish the uplink to the Watchtower.

Even as he finished hooking in the link that would allow the newly rechristened Justice League to monitor extra-dimensional transports, he saw one flash on his own monitors. He was genuinely surprised when he realized it's location.

Leaving the Fortress in a burst of super speed, he was standing outside even as the portal faded, and bulky, muscular figure in strangely configured armor stood before him.

"So. You are the Kryptonian that dares interfere with my plans," Darkseid growled. "It is time we had a talk, alien."

_Continued….._


	21. Chapter 21

_I do not own any DC Characters used herein, and am only employing them in a story meant for entertainment purposes only._

**Man Of Steel**

**Original Story by LJ58 (Inspired by Twisted-Wun)**

**Edited and Reposted (With Permission) by LJ58**

**21**

Kal-El faced the monstrosity that stood before him.

"It is time we had a talk, alien," Darkseid declared as he stood in the snow before him, untouched by the frigid temperatures as the craggy visage glowered at him.

"Alien, am I," Kal-El remarked sardonically as he eyed the craggy entity in grim, dark armor that was molded to a body that was pure muscle.

"I am not here to argue semantics with you, Kryptonian. I am here to give you a warning."

"Is that right," Kal-El remarked.

"I know about the negotiations with that meddling old man. I know you have enlisted the Oans to your side. I know you are assembling an army of metas."

Kal-El said nothing.

Apparently, from a conqueror's perspective, his actions might appear just that way. In fact, he was just trying to ensure his new home didn't perish.

"I am giving you notice."

Kal-El remained silent.

"While I, nor Apolips may….directly intervene. For now. You will soon find I have many allies of my own. Agents that can, and will, forward my cause here. Know, too, that when the time comes, I will crush your skull in my own hands."

"Big words," Kal-El couldn't help spitting out.

The impassive visage twitched, and while neither of them had moved, just nine feet between them, Kal-El knew he had just landed a blow. Darkseid, he realized, had an ego. A powerful one, he judged, if such careless words caused that kind of reaction.

"You, Kryptonian, are witless. You do not even understand you are as beneath me, as those pathetic humans are beneath you."

"I don't view them that way."

Darkseid only glared anew.

"I see I need to…..impress my warning upon you a little more firmly," he growled, and faster than even he could react, Darkseid was in front of him, and a powerful fist drove Kal-El's head back, making him stagger a few inches.

He quickly recovered, rubbed his jaw, and remarked, "I almost felt that."

He then dropped his hand, curling it into a fist in the same instant, and Darkseid ended up staggering back several inches as he drove his own fist into his gut.

The godlike conqueror roared in fury, and drove another fist into his jaw.

This time, Kal-El found himself slammed back into the side of his own Fortress, sliding down into the ice before he could recover.

"Know your place, Kryptonian," he spat as he turned away in disdain.

Even as he looked up, Darkseid was turning away, a glowing gate much like the portal the Highfather's Mother Box had conjured for them opening as he stepped into it. His powerful vision swept the gray-skinned giant, and he detected the device that was much like the same Box the New Gods use, and focused on it.

"Darkseid," Kal-El called out.

The giant didn't even look back at him.

"Enjoy the trip," he called even as his heat vision targeted the transport device.

"You dare…..?"

The words were cut off even as the portal imploded, and Darkseid vanished with it as Kal-El stood up, brushing himself off as he felt his sore jaw.

"He certainly packs a punch," he admitted as he worked his jaw.

He also knew that wherever he had gone, Darkseid was going to be furious over his last stab. Not that it mattered. Kal-El knew at first glance that Darkseid would never negotiate. Never compromise. Never do anything but exactly what he said. It was time, he realized, to consolidate their defenses.

**MoS**

Pete's howl of fear and indignation followed him high into the sky as Connor swept down, grabbed him, and went straight up fast enough that no one saw him as he intercepted the stocky teen who had just pulled into his drive, and climbed out of his truck.

"Hello, Pete. I hear you want some of my attention."

The jock's green eyes rounded as he looked into Connor's grim face, and then looked down.

"Y-You won't hurt me. You're a hero."

"You're right. I won't. You, however, have been a bad boy. Taking pictures of things that can get you, _and_ your family, killed."

"K-K-Killed," he choked.

"Use your head, smart guy. I know you filmed me. Only I was in a hurry the other day, and couldn't be bothered with a moron at the time. Now I've got time. Time to explain a few things. Want to know what happens if you try blackmailing me?"

"I wouldn't…."

"Hush," Connor advised him, tossing him from one hand to the other, making the boy yelp. "Teacher's talking," he drawled, using one of his instructor's tones.

Pete swallowed hard, looked down again, and then nodded at him.

"One, you can't blackmail me. This is….a temporary identity. It means nothing. It is nothing. But…. And this part is very important….to you. And your family. Suppose the wrong people decide you know more about me than you actually do? Suppose they think we're best buds, and they can use you against me? Think about that."

Pete said nothing as he looked down again, his house looking very tiny at their current height.

"Thinking?"

Pete nodded vehemently.

"Good. Now imagine I'm off….doing whatever, and these wrong people come calling? Imagine what happens to you, and maybe your family, or friends, if I'm busy. These people won't care. They'll hurt you. They might even kill you. All because you think you're clever. You think about that before you ever pick up another camera, hot shot," he said, and seemed to drop like a stone before stopping just a few feet from the ground, and dropping him in the back of his own truck.

Pete landed sprawling, and just stared up at him as Connor hovered overhead.

"Stick to what you're good at Pete," he advised him. "By the way, that play against Gotham High? That was great," he said, flashing him a thumb's up. "Just leave the tricks on the field. You're not ready to play with the big boys. Got it?"

Pete nodded mechanically.

"Great. Then I'll let you get back to your life, while I handle my own," he said, and turned and flew off without looking back.

Trying not to smirk at the pale-faced jock with the very damp jeans.

**MoS**

"Captain, you're not authorized to visit this weeeeeeeeek!"

The man howled as Captain Atom backhanded the sentry, and the sentry went flying down the corridor of the underground installation. The hero tore open the vault door when it wouldn't open, and walked into the medical facility where his wife was only one of nine special 'patients' who were in cryo.

He bitterly wondered how many of them were truly alive, or if they had family being played the way they had played him.

He walked over to the frosted tube with his wife, his dead wife, and stared down at her frozen face.

"I'm sorry," he told the woman, and tore open the lid of the stasis tube as alarms wailed around him.

"Captain, stand down," Wade's voice barked as he turned from lifting the limp body out of the tube.

"You lied to me," he told him so blandly that General Eiling knew he was in trouble.

"I don't know what you are thinking, Nathaniel….."

"Haven't you heard, General Eiling," he said, walking past him. "Nathaniel Adams is dead. As dead as his wife. By the way," he added, turning to glare at him. "I quit."

The general swore, and shouted at his back, "You cannot just quit. You owe us! You….."

"You lied to me, General Eiling. I owe you nothing. Say, or do anything, and I _will_ return. We both know you can't stop me. No one can," he added in an ominous tone.

Wade cursed as Captain Atom just looked up, and went straight up through the elevator shaft without stopping.

"Get me Amanda Waller," he barked at the sentry who was only then recovering.

**MoS**

"We meet again, Detective," a gravelly voice drawled as Batman entered the second floor of the looming, virtually palatial mansion.

"Ras," Batman murmured as he stood tensed, and ready. "Once again, you've gone too far."

"On the contrary, my worthy foe, I've not yet gone far enough. Surely even you can see the need for….."

"Save the speeches. I know you're working with Darkseid."

"I take it you are displeased," the master of assassins drawled as he simply stood there, hands clasped behind his back, and eyed Batman with supreme indifference.

"Displeased? You would willingly ally yourself with a creature that wants the complete destruction of our race."

"Actually, I understand he's very interested in our genetic potential. As slaves."

"All the more contemptible," Batman growled, his fists clenching.

"Are you only here to bandy insults," the older man remarked indifferently.

"No. I'm just here to stall you."

"Stall me…..?"

"Got it," a female voice said from the door where Selina Kyle sauntered in holding a solid, jade image of a golden-eyed feline.

"Ah, Ms. Kyle. It seems I underestimated you," the assassin drawled in pure menace.

"Most men do," she drawled as she walked past him, sliding the statue into her pouch, before pausing to eye Batman. "Clean up for me, will you, lover," she cooed, and leapt out the nearby balcony window without hesitation.

That both men knew the sheer drop was outside didn't even draw their eyes.

"We can do this easy, or hard. But the alien alliance stops here."

"I'm afraid I can't promise that," Ra's retorted. "I will cleanse this planet one way, or another. It is my destiny."

"We shall see. You should know, my….associates are already disarming your pawns as we speak. We have targeted every stockpile, every ally, and every meeting point. Your planned dissidence is doomed to failure."

Ra's sighed.

"You think too small, Detective. No great surprise. You always did."

Batman's thin lips actually quirked.

"You think so? This is more than a warning, Ra's. It's a….courtesy call. You have…."

Batman's eyes shifted to a nearby clock.

"Two minutes to evacuate."

"Two minutes," Ra's snorted in disbelief. "Or what?"

"Or the five Air Force drone jets targeting a known terrorist stronghold might just finally get lucky, and bury you in your little castle," he said, raising his arm, and simultaneously firing a grapple that shot out, catching the passing shadow that flew up and out of the canyons below the mountain palace.

Batman vanished in the same instant.

Ra's swore, his calm lost now, and raced for the door.

"Ubu," he shouted. "To me!"

Less than two minutes later, the first bombs fell.

**MoS**

"Thank you for coming," Kal-El told the primary members of the League as they joined on the Watchtower later that day.

He was not just talking to them, though. He was talking to Kara, who had spent the past few days flying over the planet herself, and seeing just what kind of world they had inherited.

"So, what's up this time," Flash asked.

"Indeed. You sounded quite….earnest," J'onn remarked.

"It is time the League starting stepping forward to live up to its potential," Kal-El said without preamble.

"What do you mean," Diana asked a little haughtily.

"I have met Darkseid."

Not one of the six powerful metas said a word.

"Where," Batman finally demanded.

"He came to my fortress."

"Our sensors didn't detect the transport," Captain Atom said, his manner more reserved than ever since burying his wife beside 'his' grave. He had returned to the League, but said nothing to anyone.

"No, but mine did. I suspect Darkseid only allowed that to get my attention."

"So…..?"

"He put us on notice. Apparently, the truce with the Highfather still holds, and will keep him off the planet. For now. However, he openly stated he has agents and allies working with him who will open this world to his dominance if we are not wary."

"So, he just popped in, gave you a warning, and popped out," Flash asked.

"Not quite," Kal-El grimaced, recalling the encounter, and only then explaining what had transpired.

"That explains that bruise you had earlier," Kara blurted out.

"Bruise? You," Flash sputtered.

"He….packs a punch. He's not an armchair conqueror. I suspect he has enough power to take on any of us, or all of us. That made me realize that we had to accelerate the power and potential of the League. It made me realize even I couldn't face him alone. So, as of now, if you will accept me, I ask to join you as a regular member, and help defend our world from all threats. Wherever they may originate."

The six heroes stood there studying him, and then Batman nodded.

"I accept your application. We need all the help we can get. Ra's is….distracted for the moment, but he'll be back."

"You don't think he was….?"

"He'll be back," he cut Diana off.

"Of course," the Amazon sighed. "I agree. Strength aside, you are quite clever. For a man."

Kal-El said nothing to that.

"I also suggest we step up the draft," he did say as he absorbed the nods from the members around them. "We are going to need a lot more help if Darkseid's threat was credible, which I believe to be more than accurate considering the recent activities from Intergang."

"I've been trying to find this Steel," Batman admitted. "Perhaps you can help," he asked Kal-El.

"I'll look around," he nodded.

"What about you," Captain Atom asked, looking toward Kara.

Kara sighed as all eyes went to her.

"I'm still not sure if I'm cut out for this…..hero business," she admitted.

"That's not what I've been hearing," Batman said blandly.

"But….until I decide either way, I'll help where I can. Okay?"

"That's more than enough," Kal-El told her. "No one is going to run your life, Kara. You are free to find your own way here."

"Thanks, Kal," she smiled, then looked around. "If….that's all. I guess I'll…..head down. I want to check on some things."

"Of course. Good luck."

"Say, what about that Superboy clone," Flash asked. "We could ask him….?"

"Youth aside, he's not mentally, or emotionally ready," Kal-El cut him off. "When he is, I'll suggest it myself. For now, we need people that know what they're going to face, and can handle it."

"That's why you let your….cousin go?"

"She's finding her own way. In her own way, she's already helping. I expect she will end up coming back to us, though. Just give her a chance to assimilate. She has been through a lot since waking up to find her world gone."

"Agreed," Captain Atom murmured.

"One last item," Batman stated when the meeting seemed ready to break up. "I believe our new public League needs a face. A leader the world can recognize, and respect."

"Say, that is a good idea. It would save a lot of confusion about who's giving orders….."

"I nominate Superman," Batman cut him off.

"Me," Kal-El frowned.

"You're more than powerful enough. More importantly, you are both intelligent, and objective. You know when to use your head as much as your fists. I believe you're the best fit for the new…public face you have grafted onto the team."

"I agree," J'onn nodded.

"As do I," Flash nodded quickly.

"Arrow," they all turned to Oliver, who had been silent through it all.

"I am still waiting for us to decide what to do about him," he said, nodding at Captain Atom.

Only then did Kal-El learn that Captain Atom had not just returned to the League, he had confessed his role as a mole for General Eiling.

"We accept him, as we did you, Queen," Batman growled. "Warts and all. It's no stretch that all of us here have made mistakes in the past. Likely, we'll make more in the future. We're not perfect. That said, Captain Atom is too valuable an asset to leave on the sidelines. So far as I am concerned, whatever his past, he has continually proven himself to us when it mattered."

"Thanks," Nathaniel nodded.

"That said, I'll still be watching you," Batman added somberly.

"Who _don't_ you watch," Wally said, rolling his eyes.

"I suggest we ask Shayera to join us, too," Diana decided. "She's got an understanding of alien cultures, and is obviously experienced with battle tactics that could prove invaluable."

"Agreed," J'onn said simply again.

"I was going to suggest the ring guy. You can't beat a guy that can fly through space on his own. I'm just saying," Flash shrugged, eyeing them.

"As Superman said, we do need to step up our recruiting. Diana, talk to Hawkgirl. Sound her out. I've got another meta of my own to deal with. If there is nothing else, this meeting is adjourned."

No one spoke.

Even as they headed for the teleporters, Batman glanced back at Kal-El.

"I'll leave the press release concerning our new members to you. You seem to handle those well enough."

Kal-El gave him a faint smile, and nodded.

"I know the perfect reporter."

**MoS**

'_Justice League Diffuses Gang War! Superman Now Leading the League!_'

Batman's eyes rolled slightly as he glanced at the headlines on the paper left laying in Selina's apartment when he swung into the suite once again.

"Don't you ever use the door," a low, husky voice complained.

"Catwoman," he growled. "You still have crimes to answer for."

"What, my helping you out didn't balance the books?"

"I believe you were helping yourself more than anything else. You were carrying more than just that statue you mentioned when you left Ra's al Ghul's castle. You should be grateful he was likely too distracted to notice, or he'd be after you next."

"I just rescued a few trinkets that needed saving," the brunette grinned as she sauntered over to him from the hall, wearing a long, dark dress of sheer silk.

"And what did you do with them."

"Didn't you hear," she smirked. "A certain woman's shelter recently got a large, but anonymous donation."

"Altruism doesn't seem to suit you."

"Face it, Batman," she purred. "You actually know nothing about me, so you wouldn't know what suits me, or not. Although," she said, eyeing him speculatively.

"Blackmail won't work, if that is what you're thinking. I'll still bring you in."

"How about a truce. I'm about to attend the mayor's snob-fest for the upcoming Gala, and I need to mingle if I'm going to keep up my….charitable contributions. My….legitimate ones, that is," she smiled.

Batman's eyes narrowed.

"And the fact they're auctioning off a rare, golden panther stature from China doesn't have anything to do with your interest?"

Selina only smiled.

"It's fake. Some fat dwarf in a penguin suit stole it last week, and replaced it. Hadn't you heard?"

"Penguin suit," Batman murmured.

"Well, tah, I really do need to….."

Batman moved to stand in front of her.

"Yes?"

"The truce stands. For now. But if you step out of line…. I will be there."

"I'm counting on it, Bruce," he purred, and scooped up a purse and keys before walking out, and leaving him in the shadows of her now dark apartment.

Batman didn't bother to linger. He turned and leapt out into the night.

Thinking about flightless birds.

**MoS**

Amanda Waller walked into the room that was devoid of furniture, and was in fact, more bunker than anything else. The heavy steel door could only be opened by a key code that just three people in the world knew. Her, Eiling, and General Lane.

Only MRD had been recently shut down by the pressure the public was forcing on the current administration, and Cadmus was in danger of being gutted, too.

She only had one failsafe.

She walked into the room, eyed the six men and women standing there looking less than happy, and glanced at the files in her hands.

"Victor Frieze. Dr. Doris Zuel. George Harkness. Floyd Lawton. Ben Turner. And, of course, John Corbin," she addressed them all. "Otherwise known as Mr. Freeze. Giganta. Captain Boomerang," she said with a wry smirk. "Deadshot. Bronze Tiger. And, of course, Metallo."

"We know who we are, you batty broad," John growled, his new body repaired, and reinforced by the best minds available. "Why don't you just get to it?"

"Indeed. People. We have a situation. The Justice League is growing more and more powerful. Aliens of unexpected power levels are appearing, and there is obviously a great deal of interference with our local government going on thanks to their kind."

"Where have I heard this speech before," Ben growled.

"My point, Mr. Turner, is we don't have anything to stop them if they decide to stop chasing alleged villains, and turn on us. The Justice League possesses powers and abilities that could literally shatter this globe, if they wished. Or simply shatter governments."

"You want us to take on the League," Victor asked, his cold visage masked behind the domed helmet he was forced to wear to keep him alive.

"You are but the first to join the Suicide Squad."

_"Suicide,"_ Doris sputtered. "Hey, I didn't sign up for…."

"You signed up to get out of jail. Each of you face multiple life sentences. Or death penalties," she added, eyeing Lawton. "You help us, we commute those sentences. You get caught, we, naturally, disavow you."

"Not much of an incentive," Corbin huffed in his mechanical tone. Unlike Luthor, they couldn't make him sound human, even if they had made him look that way again.

"No? How about the fact that if you run away, fail, or are caught, you not only face prison, you face death. The appellation, I felt, was more than appropriate. To encourage each of you to….behave, we implanted special tracking beacons in your skulls. Even yours, Corbin. You cross us, or try to do anything we do not directly sanction, and that beacon can become a bomb. Need I say more?"

Not one of them spoke.

"As I said. You are only the first. You will all listen to Ben Turner, who will be team leader, operating directly under the authority of General Rick Flagg, who you be meeting soon for your first team briefing. Just know, I'll always be watching you," she said, and turned on her heel, and walked out.

"Suddenly, life in prison doesn't seem so bad," George sighed.

"We'll see," Dr. Zuel murmured as she rubbed the back of her skull. "We'll just see."

_The Beginning…._


End file.
